As we approach the end of the year, I wanted to send you a heartfelt THANK YOU for supporting our campaign for U.S. Senate in Mississippi.

I appreciate your prayers, phone banking, peer-to-peer texting, sage advice, and grassroots fundraising support. The support for our campaign was historic, and I remain humbled that so many of you donated, despite your personal stresses, strains and struggles, borne of this difficult pandemic.

Now that the votes are officially certified, I wanted to share my reflections on the race. I owe you, as grassroots supporters, a report on the numbers and what we achieved together. We fell short — 44.1% to 54.1% — but that disappointing result is not the full story. The numbers also show growth and provide hope for the future in our state.

The 578,691 votes we won is the highest number of votes for ANY Democrat running for statewide office in Mississippi — EVER. It is 40,000 votes higher than President-elect Joe Biden’s total, and higher than former President Obama won in 2008 or 2012.

Mike Espy stands on a stage with his family. [[link removed]]

We also received a higher percent of Republican crossover votes than any Democratic candidate in the country during the 2020 U.S. Senate cycle, except for former Governor Steve Bullock in Montana. We also outright won three counties that Trump won in 2016 and in 2020.

With your help, we raised $15.7 million from over 242,018 donors, a historic amount of money for any statewide race in Mississippi. That allowed us to run a sophisticated campaign, which few here had seen from Democrats before.

In addition to paid media, we also ran as thorough a grassroots campaign as was feasible. We furiously (and safely) knocked on 558,219 doors and conducted over 100 COVID-compliant campaign events. Grassroots organizing remains even more critical in Mississippi than elsewhere, and we did not neglect it. I only wish we could have started this effort earlier in the campaign cycle.

The strength of our race helped make progress in Mississippi in other ways, too. Mississippi voters approved three progressive initiatives: Medical marijuana, a new flag design (without the Confederate symbol), and removal of a Jim-Crow era electoral-college mandate for statewide races (which means statewide candidates now need only a majority of the popular vote to prevail).

Despite a campaign of which I will always be proud, the hill was simply too steep to climb. President Trump got 57% of the vote in the highest turnout race in Mississippi’s history — 1,313,759 voters. Previously, the highest turnout had been 1,289,965 (President Obama in 2008). President Trump’s base responded to his clarion call in Mississippi, as indeed they did across the nation.

Senator Hyde-Smith lagged behind Trump, but Trump 2020 vastly outperformed Trump 2016. Our pre-election polling showed us within striking distance — just 2.5 points back — but while it also showed Trump winning, it missed the Trump surge, as polling did in many states across the nation.

There is still more work to be done in Mississippi. There are still people who do not vote — like a young woman I met last week at a pizza place near my home, who was unaware of our campaign, explaining, “she doesn’t vote.” To me, this was like a punch to the gut. Having spent millions across multiple media platforms, we were still unable to reach her, or to persuade her to exercise the franchise that martyrs like Fannie Lou Hamer and Medgar Evers died to secure.

Mississippi hasn’t yet positioned itself as a “swing state," akin to what Georgia has become. However, in Georgia, it has taken a decade of focused and continual effort, undergirded by sustained investment.

So, we cannot stop now in Mississippi — because we have something here that even Georgia doesn’t have: The largest African American voting population per-capita in the United States. And I still believe what Rev. Dr. William J. Barber of the Poor People’s Campaign told me: “Mississippi is not as red as it is unorganized.” We made progress in getting it organized, but there is obviously much work left to do.

I am proud of our staff, of our effort, and I believe that we built a bridge that others after me will be able to cross in the near future. All of our data, research, and many other valuable resources amassed during our campaigns will be given over to the Mississippi Democratic Party, under its new leadership from Chairman Tyree Irving.

I heartily congratulate our new president and historic vice president, and look forward to new leadership that is empathetic, capable, experienced, and serious. Congratulations also to Congressman Bennie Thompson, who will continue his good work as chairman of the United States House Committee on Homeland Security.

Finally, in the spirit of the season, I want to wish you and yours a merry Christmas, happy holidays — and a hopeful, healthy, joyful 2021.

And please stay safe, masked, and socially-distanced, until such time as your vaccination arrives.

Thanks for all you do,

Mike Espy

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Mike Espy for U.S. Senate
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Jackson, MS 39211
United States
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