GOP Keeps One U.S. Senate Seat in Mississippi, While the Other Is Headed to a Crucial Late November Runoff

By Kimberly Ross | 10:55 PM on November 06, 2018

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*A flag flies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017, as President Donald Trump meets with Senate Republican leaders. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)*

Multiple news outlets have called one U.S. Senate race in Mississippi. Unsurprisingly, Republican incumbent Roger Wicker has kept his seat.

BREAKING: Republican Roger Wicker wins re-election to U.S. Senate from Mississippi. #APracecall at 8:04 p.m. CST. @AP election coverage: https://t.co/miEWlbTVZW #Election2018 #MSelection

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 7, 2018

In the special election to fill retired Senator Thad Cochran’s seat, though, the race is not over.

In April, Governor Phil Bryant appointed the state’s first female senator, Cindy Hyde-Smith, to fill the vacant seat. If no candidate wins the majority of the votes on Tuesday night, there will be a runoff on November 27th. As of now, that will be between current seat-holder Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) and former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy (D). That winner will fill the last two years of the retired legislator’s term.

A Republican win would do much to solidify control in the Senate, something desperately needed as the GOP majority in the House of Representatives is all but gone.

Kimberly Ross is a senior contributor at RedState and a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook .