Mississippians Vote in High-Stakes Senate Runoff

But on Monday, he painted Democrats as radical and unsafe as he stumped for Republican Sen.

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety says the nooses were accompanied by handwritten signs referring to Tuesday's election as well as to lynchings - majority in the state's turbulent past, but also one recent case that remains under investigation, of a black man whose body was found hanging in central Mississippi.

President Donald Trump is stumping in MS on Monday for a Republican Senate appointee who wants voters to focus on her unwavering support for him, and not the racial questions that have made Tuesday's runoff election a much closer contest than anyone expected.

Dianne Swennumson and her husband have supported Republicans in the past but say they're appalled by Mr. Trump's rhetoric and behavior.

"I've gotten to know her over the last period of time as a senator, as a very talented United States senator and I know where her heart is, and her heart is good".

"If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row", Hyde-Smith is heard saying in the video.

"I've never heard a negative ad, I've never heard a positive ad", she said of him.

She apologized during a recent debate with Espy, but insisted her remark was "twisted" by opponents for political gain.

President Donald Trump urged Mississippi Republicans to turn out for Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was expected to cruise to victory in Tuesday's runoff election before a series of racial issues complicated her campaign.

We urge all our CHQ friends and readers in MS to heed President Trump's warning: Don't take anything for granted, be sure to vote for Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith in today's Senate run-off.

A noose hangs on a tree in Jackson

The runoff election Tuesday will decide who serves the final two years of a term begun by Republican Sen. Thad Cochran resigned for health reasons.

Espy and Hyde-Smith, who would be the state's first elected female senator, are vying for the seat that was long held by Sen.

Over the past week, high-profile contributors to the campaign of Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith including Walmart, AT&T, Pfizer, and Major League Baseball have requested a refund after the MS politician's "public hanging" remark sparked outrage.

The comment called up dark memories of lynchings in the state.

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety, which is investigating the incident, said the items were placed there early Monday morning. "I have stood up for you and you know I will continue to stand up for the conservative values of MS". But they say the appearances will provide a spark to their voters, too.

Republicans think Cindy Hyde-Smith will ultimately pull out a win in Mississippi's special Senate election on Tuesday.

Additionally, CNN's KFile reported over the weekend that Hyde-Smith once promoted a measure that praised a Confederate soldier's effort to "defend his homeland" and pushed a revisionist view of the Civil War. She was appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to fill the senate seat after Cochran retired. The discovery comes just before Tuesday's runoff election between Democrat Mike Espy, who is black, and Republican Sen.

Espy said he refused to accept plea deals because, "I was so not guilty, I was innocent". "Because I was not guilty", Espy told the Associated Press in October.

Espy, who is an attorney, said: "I found out later that this guy, the president, was a really bad guy".