Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith won Mississippi’s special election runoff for the US Senate late on Tuesday, pledging in her victory speech to represent everyone in the state.
Her win on Tuesday means Republicans will hold 53 seats to Democrats' 47 seats in the Senate in January. The GOP grew its majority in the Senate by two seats in this year's midterm elections even as Democrats took control of the House.
By a margin of 55% to 45% with 77% of precincts reporting, she bested Democrat Mike Espy.
Hyde-Smith stirred up Mississippi’s complicated racial history when she made a series of racially loaded remarks represented in her statement to a supporter of a supporter “if he invited me to a public hanging, I would be on the front row.”
Hyde-Smith was defensive on the matter saying that her statements were twisted into a wrong context and offered an apology to “anyone that was offended”.
President Donald Trump visited Mississippi on Monday to hold two rallies for her; in her speech, she thanked the president for his efforts to secure her victory.
in her speech hyde-smith said: “I want everyone to know, no matter who you voted for today, I’m going to always represent every Mississippian.”
The victory will make her the first woman ever elected to Congress from Mississippi.
