"In 1986 Democrats also showed surprising strength at the federal level, as young, aggressive Mike Espy unseated conservative Republican Congressman Webb Franklin of the Second District (which incorporated the Mississippi River Delta region) to become the first black elected to Congress from the state since Reconstruction. Espy had successfully attacked Franklin for supporting Reagan's domestic budget cuts which had hurt his district, plagued as it was by high unemployment and the greatest poverty in the nation." (Source: Shaffer 1991: 96)
"A major theme of the congressional incumbents was constituency service- keeping in touch with their constituents and bringing jobs and federal projects to their districts. During his first term, Second District Congressman Mike Espy spoke to numerous chambers of commerce, Rotary Clubs, and black churches. He boasted of helping his district by creating the Lower Mississippi River Delta Development Commission, attracting federal funds for an extension of the Greenwood-Leflore County airport runway and a federal loan for an electronics company that brought eighty-five new jobs to Yazoo City, and establishing National Catfish Day and increasing the Defense Department's purchase of the district's pond-raised catfish.(92) In August he toured the Delta Pride catfish processing plant in Indianola with potential client U.S. Army Secretary John Marsh, had had a catfish lunch with several dozen Delta mayors and supervisors, and had discussed steering other military purchases to the impoverished district.(93)"(Source: Shaffer 1991: 106)
"Another important theme of incumbents was their seniority and power in Washington... Regarding freshman Espy, in July, House Majority Leader Thomas Foley of Washington attended a fund-raiser for him in Greenville.(94) In late October, senators Nunn and Johnston praised Espy at a news conference, touting his influence and his success at helping the state's image and uniting the white and black communities.(95)" (Source: Shaffer 1991: 106-107)
"By early 1988 it was evident that Congressman Espy was expanding upon the 10 percent of whites who had supported him in 1986. In February it was reported that at least 30 percent of his campaign contributions had come from white delta farmers.(96) In April he announced a campaign committee with biracial coordination in each county that included many prominent white public officials, farmers, businessmen, and teachers.(97) On Labor Day, Hiram Eastland, second cousin to one-time segregationist former Senator James Eastland, hosted a biracial gathering in honor of Espy at the Eastland family's Adair Plantation Home in Doddsville.(98)"(Source: Shaffer 1991: 107)
"Meanwhile, Espy's conservative Republican challenger, Jack Coleman, a former Reagan appointee to the Commerce Department and head of a defense contractors trade association, aggressively publicized the Congressman's liberal voting record.(99) Espy's liberal record included support for more federal domestic spending for child care, housing, catastrophic health care, and adult illiteracy and reduced defense spending for the Strategic Defense Initiative, the MX missile, the B-1 bomber, and aid to the Nicaraguan Contras. Espy also supported federal funding for abortions for poor women, a sixty-day notice plant-closing provision, and a strengthened Fair Housing Act and Civil Rights Restoration Act.(100) However, Espy also touted some of his conservative postures, such as supporting the death penalty for drug kingpins, a balanced budget amendment, and opposing gun control, for which he received the endorsement of the National Rifle Association.(101) When Coleman charged that Espy's support for defense cuts could hurt defense industries in the district, Espy's spokesperson responded that the Congressman was currently traveling with several Greenville businessmen to meet with Boeing Company executives about steering more contract work to the district.(102)"(Source: Shaffer 1991: 107)
"At a speech before the state's AFL-CIO convention, Espy expressed concern that possible Bush and Lott coattails could defeat him, and in October one poll showed Coleman only 10 points behind the Congressman.(103) However, prominent Republicans like Senator Cochran declined to campaign with Coleman, and columnist Bill Minor accused the Republican challenger of skirting "close to injecting racism into the campaign."(104) In the face of numerous prominent political leaders campaigning for Espy, Coleman was reduced to publicizing a campaign visit by Assistant Secretary of the Agriculture Department, George Dunlop.(105)" (Source: Shaffer 1991: 107)
"Election Day in Mississippi provided few surprises, as all the pre-election favorites won... The power of incumbency had become so potent that even a black freshman Congressman like Mike Espy was re-elected by a landslide 66 percent of the vote in a state that had historically been preoccupied with the race question." (Source: Shaffer 1991: 109)
NOTES (for Shaffer 1991)
"The 1990 midterm congressional elections also provided a benchmark. The state's six incumbents all won easy reelection, despite a national trend that produced an unusually high number of defeats and close calls for incumbents..." (Source: Shaffer, Sturrock, Breaux, and Minor 1999: 250)
"...Of particular note was Mike Espy's 84.1 percent reelection romp in the Second District, centered in the Mississippi Delta. Espy, an African American with a liberal voting record, generated powerful crossover appeal to white voters by combining a handful of high-profile conservative stands- notably opposition to gun control- with aggressive efforts to aid such local interests as the burgeoning catfish industry." (Source: Shaffer, Sturrock, Breaux, and Minor 1999: 251)
"THE 1991 ELECTIONS: GOP GUBERNATORIAL BREAKTHROUGH... Many black leaders found it difficult to choose between two candidates they had long considered allies. In late July, Congressman Espy aired radio commercials backing Mabus because of state gains in education, health care, and jobs, but quickly pointed out that his endorsement was "not anti-Dowdy at all. It was pro-Mabus.""...(5) (Source: Shaffer, Sturrock, Breaux, and Minor 1999: 253)
NOTES (for Shaffer, Sturrock, Breaux, and Minor 1999)
"Meanwhile, state Democrats were more united than they had been in decades, as Clinton amassed over 200 endorsements from prominent Mississippi Democrats such as his state co-chairs, black Congressman Mike Espy and former Governor William Winter, as well as Secretary of State Dick Molpus, Attorney General Mike Moore, Treasurer Marshall Bennett, Auditor Steve Patterson, and House Speaker Tim Ford.(9)..." (Source: Shaffer 1994: 68)
"Touring Columbus, Greenwood, and Jackson by bus with four other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Espy attacked Bush: "He lied to us first when he said, 'Read my lips: No new taxes.' Now we're telling him, 'Read our lips: No new term.'" Espy also appeared on "The Today Show" to defend Clinton after the latter's criticism of black rapper Sister Souljah, labeling his gubernatorial record "absolutely perfect, just about perfect, on racial issues."(16) (Source: Shaffer 1994: 70)
"In the last week of the campaign, state and local officials of both parties promoted their presidential hopefuls with rallies and ads in local newspapers...A Democratic rally and unity dinner in Tupelo included Espy, former Governors Winter and Allain, and state officeholders Patterson, Bennett, and Molpus, while Espy, Patterson, Molpus, and state Democratic Chair Ed Cole attended a rally in Yazoo City promoting turnout."(31)(Source: Shaffer 1994: 74)
NOTES (for Shaffer 1994)
"The creation of a majority-black Mississippi River "Delta" district in the 1980s helped produce liberal African American congressmen Mike Espy in 1986 and Bennie Thompson in a 1993 special election..." (Source: Shaffer and Breaux 2018: 124)
"Haley Barbour's landslide reelection in the 2007 state elections completed the Democratic meltdown, as Democrats won only one statewide office, reelecting Attorney General Jim Hood, though they did retain control of both chambers of the state legislature... Even Mississippi's first African American congressman since Reconstruction, Mike Espy, ended up backing Barbour, as did such Democratic former officeholders as Lieutenant Governor Brad Dye and Governor Waller (Rupp 2007, 1A, 6A)." (Source: Shaffer and Breaux 2018: 133)
NOTES (for Shaffer and Breaux 2018)
Espy's Roll Call Voting Record by Ideological Groups (0-100% "correct")
Espy's voting record as a Congressman was essentially "moderate liberal" in the second half of his service, and "liberal" in the first half. If he maintained a similar pattern as a U.S. Senator, he would fall into the same categories of the few remaining southern Democratic U.S. senators, such as Kaine and Warner of Virginia and Nelson of Florida http://sds17.pspa.msstate.edu/classes/southern/ch15.htm).
An informative article about Espy's acquittal of federal charges that arose out of his service as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture is in the Washington Post.
"Republicans in the 2011 state elections made further historic gains, not only retaining all seven of these statewide offices but also gaining control of both chambers of the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction... Republicans also fielded quality women candidates for the open races for Agriculture Commissioner and Treasurer, Cindy Hyde-Smith and Lynn Fitch, who defeated Democratic and Reform candidates. Hyde-Smith, the two-term chair of the state senate agriculture committee, had earned awards from the Mississippi Farm Bureau for her efforts to promote the state’s catfish industry in other states (Salter 2011a)." (Source: Shaffer and Breaux 2018: 134)
NOTES (for Shaffer and Breaux 2018)
"Republicans in the near sweep of statewide offices in 2011 now benefited from a strong farm team of experienced officeholders in lower level positions that the once dominant Democratic Party had previously held... Victorious agriculture commissioner candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith, a stockyard owner and cattle farmer, had two terms as chair of the state senate's agriculture committee, earning the Mississippi Farm Bureau's Agriculture Legislator of the Year award and its Agricultural Ambassador award, for her efforts to promote the state's catfish industry..."(6)(Source: Shaffer and Breaux 2014: 84-85).
NOTES (for Shaffer and Breaux 2014)
The most recent federal elections further illustrate GOP dominance in congressional elections. Senator Thad Cochran faced the battle of his political life in 2014, not from a Democrat, but from a Tea Party challenger in the GOP primary, state senator Chris McDaniel, an ally of Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. After trailing by less than 1 percentage of the vote in the first primary, Cochran vigorously campaigned across the state, was backed by a united party establishment (fearing loss of the seat and of party control of the Senate), and even received support from prominent African Americans and public education forces. After a narrow 51% primary runoff victory, Cochran won a landslide general election vote over former Congressman Travis Childers (Shaffer and Breaux 2018: 126).
The 2014 federal elections in Mississippi illustrated how the real electoral battles were now taking place within the dominant Republican Party’s primary, as seventy six year old Senator Thad Cochran faced the political fight of his life in the GOP primary against conservative state senator Chris McDaniel, who modeled himself after Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Blasting the incumbent for spending too much federal money and increasing the debt ceiling, McDaniel charged that Cochran had “been in Washington so long, he’s forgotten his Mississippi conservative values.”(1) Cochran stressed that his senior position on the Senate Appropriations Committee had helped fund Mississippi’s university and agricultural research, and protect the state’s military bases. Aggressively campaigning across the state, McDaniel shocked the political establishment by leading the first primary with 49.5% of the vote to Cochran's 49.0% with a minor candidate forcing a runoff race. Cochran supporters immediately became energized, with the senator personally campaigning across the state. Republican leaders in Washington and in Mississippi urged a Cochran vote to help ensure a GOP capture of the senate (for the first time since 2006), and many state African American leaders praised Cochran’s support for some programs that benefitted minorities. In the face of McDaniel’s call for fiscal responsibility and ending states’ addiction to federal money, the chairs of all three of the state's public education bodies (elementary and secondary, community colleges, and universities) pleaded for Cochran’s return to the Senate. Cochran’s forces managed to reverse their initial first primary deficit with a narrow 51% runoff victory, prompting McDaniel to spend months in court challenges over allegedly illegal Democratic crossover votes in the GOP runoff. By contrast November was a cakewalk for Republicans, as Cochran polished off Democratic former congressman Travis Childers with a 60% landslide, and U.S. House incumbents Alan Nunnelee, Steven Palazzo, and Gregg Harper earned 68% or higher landslides (as did Democrat Thompson).(Source: Shaffer and Breaux, forthcoming)
NOTES (for Shaffer and Breaux, forthcoming)
McDaniel's Roll Call Voting Record by Ideological Groups (0-100% "correct")
McDaniel's voting record as a state legislator was essentially "conservative." If he maintains a similar pattern as a U.S. Senator, he would fall into the same category as all of the current Republican U.S. senators from the South.