Mississippi’s GOP governor warns of ‘1000 years of darkness’ if state elects black senator

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is warning of a dire situation if Democrat Mike Espy beats Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith in the 2020 Senate race. Mississippi is a deeply red state but Espy performed well when he ran against Hyde-Smith in the 2018 special election, winning 46 percent of the vote.

Should Espy beat Hyde-Smith in the upcoming election, he’ll be Mississippi’s “first black Senator in over 139 years,” journalist Joe Jurado notes in a story for The Root.

Bryant supports reelecting Hyde-Smith and said so in a January 2 tweet.

“I intend to work for @cindyhydsmith as if the fate of America depended on her single election,” he tweeted. “If Mike Espy and the liberal Democrats gain the Senate, we will take that first step into 1000 years of darkness.”