Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith defeated challenger Mike Espy, a Democrat, in the runoff election for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi Tuesday.
Hyde-Smith was appointed earlier this year by Gov. Phil Bryant after Sen. Thad Cochran, also a Republican, stepped down. Hyde-Smith will be the first woman elected to the Senate from Mississippi, and the Republican majority in the Senate would grow to 53-47.
Espy, her opponent, is a former congressman and former agriculture secretary who would’ve been the first black man elected to the Senate from Mississippi since Reconstruction.
Hyde-Smith and Espy advanced to a run-off because neither won 50 percent of the vote in the general election on Nov. 6. Hyde-Smith won 41.2 percent, compared to Espy’s 40.8 percent, and Republican Chris McDaniel picked up 16.5 percent.
President Trump has endorsed Hyde-Smith, and visited Mississippi on Monday for two rallies supporting her campaign.