Former U.S. congressman Mike Espy, a Yazoo City native, says he’s counting on Mississippians to elect the most experienced and qualified candidate to replace retired U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran in November.
That candidate would be Espy, who spoke to a packed crowd at the Greenwood Voters League on Wednesday night.
His opponents in the upcoming nonpartisan special election will include former state commissioner of agriculture and commerce, Cindy Hyde-Smith, appointed by Republican Gov. Phil Bryant to replace Cochran until the election, and firebrand Tea Party conservative Chris McDaniel, who almost stole the Republican nomination from Cochran in 2014 in a runoff election.
Espy, a Democrat, said he was surprised by Cochran’s resignation, due to health problems, and would not have run against the senator, whom he considers a friend and a great public servant of the state.
Voters League members got a review of Espy’s federal government pedigree. Elected to Congress for four terms starting in 1987, Espy was the first African-American to represent Mississippi at the federal level since Reconstruction. Should he win the special election in November, he would become the first African-American U.S. senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction.
“There’s only one person out of everybody running who’s been in Washington for more than three months,” Espy said. “And that’s me.”
The crowd responded enthusiastically with a rhythmic chant: “We like Mike! We like Mike! We like Mike!”
Espy reminded attendees of his experience leading the U.S. Department of Agriculture under President Bill Clinton. He said he hopes farmers in Mississippi will see that experience, as well as his experience as an international agricultural consultant, as a plus come November — especially given the ill effects of recently imposed tariffs on American agricultural products such as soybeans.
He served as U.S. agriculture secretary in 1993 and 1994 and left in a cloud of allegations that he illegally took $35,000 in inappropriate gifts from business people and lobbyists. He was indicted in 1997 and acquitted of all 30 charges in 1998.
Espy said that during his time away from Washington in the last two decades, he spent time raising a family and practicing law, and most recently has served as chairman of the board of the Hope Enterprise Corp. out of Jackson. Hope Enterprise is a financial services and community development organization dedicated to serving low-income constituents and low-income census districts in five states, including Mississippi.
“For the last 20 years, I’ve been helping people make their lives better,” Espy said, “and I’ve got some strong ideas about what the Senate ought to be doing.”
Espy said he gave his first-ever political speech at the Greenwood Voters League when he was working on Ed Pittman’s gubernatorial campaign.
“My report to him after that was, ‘Maybe this is not the race for you,’” Espy said. Sure enough, after two months of campaigning, Pittman pulled out of the governor’s race and ran instead for state attorney general.
Espy also kicked off his 1986 campaign for the 2nd District seat in Congress at the Greenwood Voters League. “And we won!” said Espy, who defeated two-term Republican Webb Franklin of Greenwood.
“By then I had discovered I like this. I want to be in the room with the big fights.
“That’s why I’m coming off the bench after 20 years — to get into this fight.”
Espy said he believes he could be a “quiet persuader” in the Senate who can reach across the aisle and speak reason to polarized partisans.
While he was in Congress, he said, the number of white voters who supported him over four elections rose from 11 percent to 40 percent, a trend he hopes to see continue in 2018.
Espy spoke earlier this week at an event at the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, where he was asked what would be his first act as U.S. senator. He explained to the Voters League crowd that there are two statues of Mississippians representing the state at the U.S. Capitol: one of Jefferson Davis and one of J.Z. George, U.S. senator and author of the 1890 Mississippi Constitution, which rescinded many rights African-Americans had gained following the end of slavery.
“I told them I’m going to take down that statue of J.Z. George and put up a statue of B.B. King,” he said, drawing applause and more than a few amens.
Espy said he worries about disaffected younger voters who have grown impatient and cynical about the political process but need to be involved to change policy at the national level.
“It’s my job to reach voters where they are and convince them that it’s important to vote,” he said.
•Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
