(CNN) Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith was expected to coast to victory in a Mississippi runoff that would conclude the last Senate race of 2018's midterm elections. 
 
 Instead, Hyde-Smith has spent the days leading up to Tuesday's election mired in controversy that evoked the state's dark history of racism and slavery. 
 
 It began when video emerged online of her telling supporters earlier this month that she'd be "on the front row" if one of her supporters there "invited me to a public hanging." She later called the comments an "exaggerated expression of regard," but her use of the phrase "public hanging" brought memories of Mississippi's history of lynchings to the forefront and put the contest under the national microscope. 
 
 On Tuesday, Mississippi voters will decide between Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy, who, if elected, would be the state's first black senator since Reconstruction. President Donald Trump, anxious to finish out the 2018 campaign season with a Republican victory, urged voters to turn out for Hyde-Smith in a tweet Tuesday. 
 
 The result will finalize the balance of power in the US Senate. As it stands, Republicans will hold 52 seats next year, and Democrats will have 47. A win for the GOP in Mississippi would further pad the party's majority in the Senate, even as Democrats have taken a solid majority in the House. 
 
 The state is polarized along racial lines, with most white voters backing Republicans and nearly all black voters supporting Democrats. 
 
 Democrats hope Hyde-Smith's comments will lead to a surge in black turnout and propel them to victory. However, even if black voters, who make up nearly 40% of the state's electorate, come out in full force, Espy would still have to outperform his party's history with whites to have a chance of winning. 
 
 And Democrats have to overcome partisan trends in the deeply red state. Earlier this month, when multiple candidates in both parties were on the ballot, Hyde-Smith and conservative Chris McDaniel combined for 58% of the vote, while Espy and Democrat Tobey Bartee got 42%. 
 
 On the eve of the election, Trump held two rallies for Hyde-Smith in an attempt to turn out the Republican base. 
 
 He told the crowd in Tupelo to "get out" and vote in Tuesday's runoff. 
 
 "I think it'll be a very big day for Cindy, but don't take any chances," he said. "That's happened many times before. That never works out well. Just assume you have to vote." 
 
 Even though Republicans will control the Senate regardless of the outcome, the President suggested that a Democratic win in Mississippi would "revoke" the party's victories. 
 
 "We cannot allow Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to revoke that victory by winning the state of Mississippi," he said. 
 
 At a roundtable in Gulfport, Trump called Hyde-Smith's comments about a public hanging "sad and a little flip." 
 
 "When I spoke to her -- she called me -- she said, 'I said something that I meant exactly very different,' and I heard an apology loud and clear," Trump said. 
 
 "I know where her heart is, and her heart is good. That's not what she was meaning when she said that," he said. 
 
 Hyde-Smith at center of controversy 
 
 Though public polling has been limited, the race is seen as potentially competitive because of Hyde-Smith's "public hanging" remarks. 
 
 Those comments prompted deeper dives into her history. 
 
 The same progressive blogger who published the video of her using the phrase "public hanging" later published one in which Hyde-Smith told a small group at Mississippi State University that suppressing the votes of students at other colleges was "a great thing." Her campaign said it was a joke, but that explanation backfired when the black student from the event seen laughing in a picture her campaign posted on Twitter responded that Hyde-Smith's campaign was using him as a prop. 
 
 On Friday, the Jackson Free Press reported that Hyde-Smith had attended a private high school that was founded in 1970 so that white parents could avoid attempts to integrate public schools. Hyde-Smith's daughter later attended a similar private school established around the same time, according to the Free Press. The senator's campaign responded to the report by attacking the "liberal media." 
 
 Over the weekend, CNN reported that Hyde-Smith once promoted a measure that praised a Confederate soldier's effort to "defend his homeland" and had pushed a revisionist view of the Civil War. 
 
 In photos posted to her Facebook account in 2014, Hyde-Smith was pictured posing with Confederate artifacts during a visit to Beauvoir, the home and library of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The caption on the post read, "Mississippi history at its best!" 
 
 Espy's campaign hammered Hyde-Smith with television ads that cast her as an embarrassment to a state that has attempted to overcome its history of slavery and racism. 
 
 "We've worked hard to overcome the stereotypes that hurt our economy and cost us jobs. Her words should not reflect Mississippi's values, either," a narrator said in one ad. The ad also called Hyde-Smith "so embarrassing, she'd be a disaster for Mississippi." 
 
 Several companies that had donated to Hyde-Smith's campaign, including Walmart, publicly withdrew their support for the senator over the "public hanging" comment. 
 
 In her debate with Espy, Hyde-Smith said she would "certainly apologize" to anyone who was offended by her remark. But she quickly pivoted into attack mode. 
 
 "I also recognize that this comment was twisted and it was turned into a weapon to be used against me," she said. 
 
 GOP fights to avoid embarrassment 
 
 The controversies surrounding Hyde-Smith set off a major push by national Republicans to avoid the same embarrassment they'd suffered last year in Alabama and save Hyde-Smith. 
 
 While Hyde-Smith largely stayed off the campaign trail, the party's infrastructure rallied to her defense. GOP groups spent $4 million on the Mississippi runoff -- much more than Democrats' $1.2 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Republican groups spent more than twice as much as Democrats on television advertisements, per the ad tracking firm Kantar/CMAG. 
 
 Trump's visits to Mississippi on Monday night were also seen as bid to rally the Republican base to vote in an election taking place two days after the Thanksgiving weekend. 
 
 For Democrats, the best-case scenario is similar to how Democratic Sen. Doug Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore in Alabama a year ago: a narrow victory fueled by massive turnout from black voters. 
 
 But Mississippi is, in some ways, more challenging than Alabama. Moore faced allegations that, as an adult, he had sought sexual relationships with teenage girls. 
 
 And the state is more rural than its eastern neighbor. Like Alabama, Mississippi hasn't voted for a Democrat in a presidential election since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Trump won Mississippi by 18 percentage points in 2016. ||||| (Reuters) - Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith won a U.S. Senate special election runoff in conservative Mississippi on Tuesday, defeating a black challenger after a campaign that recalled the history of racist violence in the deep South state. 
 
 Republican U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith speaks during an election night party in Jackson, Mississippi, U.S., November 27, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman 
 
 The white former state lawmaker, who was appointed to the Senate in April, overcame a controversy over her comment on public hangings to defeat Democrat Mike Espy in the last contest of the 2018 election cycle. 
 
 Hyde-Smith, 59, is the first woman elected to Congress from Mississippi. If Espy had won, he would have been the first black senator from Mississippi since shortly after the Civil War. 
 
 Having been heavily favored to win the reliably Republican state, Hyde-Smith became engulfed in a political storm over a video showing her praising a supporter at a Nov. 2 event by saying, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.” 
 
 The video sparked a furor in a state with a history of racism and violence against blacks, including lynchings, and fueled Democratic hopes of an upset in a state where 38 percent of the population is black. 
 
 But Hyde-Smith triumphed by depicting Espy as too liberal for Mississippi, which last elected a Democrat to the Senate in 1982, and by touting her support for President Donald Trump, who won the state by 18 percentage points in 2016. 
 
 Trump attended two get-out-the-vote rallies in the state on Monday, and tweeted his congratulations to Hyde-Smith after the race was called, saying he was “very proud” of her. 
 
 “Mr. President, thank you so much for all of your help,” Hyde-Smith said in a victory speech to supporters, calling her win a triumph of “conservative values.” 
 
 “Mississippians know me and they know my heart,” she said. 
 
 Her victory means Republicans will hold a 53-47 majority in the new U.S. Senate that convenes in January. With almost all precincts tallied, Hyde-Smith led by nearly 8 percentage points. 
 
 Espy, 64, campaigned as a moderate who would work with Trump and Republicans to benefit the state. He tried to recreate the coalition that propelled Democrat Doug Jones to a Senate win in neighboring Alabama last year by energizing black voters, particularly women, and winning support from white swing voters. 
 
 Espy said he called Hyde-Smith to concede the race and wish her well. 
 
 “She has my prayers as she goes to Washington to unite a very divided Mississippi,” he told supporters. 
 
 The runoff to serve the last two years of former Republican Senator Thad Cochran’s term was necessary because neither Espy nor Hyde-Smith gained more than 50 percent of the vote in a Nov. 6 special election with four candidates. Cochran, 80, resigned earlier this year, citing health concerns. 
 
 Several businesses, including giant retailer Walmart, had demanded Hyde-Smith return their donations after her public hanging remark. 
 
 Slideshow (17 Images) 
 
 She sparked further controversy when she was shown on another video joking about suppressing liberal student votes, and photographs surfaced of her posing with Confederate artifacts in 2014. 
 
 She initially refused to apologize for the hanging remark, but said in a debate last week that she was sorry “for anyone that was offended.” She accused Espy of twisting her words for political gain. 
 
 Espy denied the charge and said “we all know what came out of your mouth.” He has said the comment perpetuated negative stereotypes about Mississippi and hurt investment. ||||| U.S. Sen Cindy Hyde-Smith enters the room of her election watch party at the Westin Hotel in Jackson following the announcement of her win against democratic candidate Mike Espy in the runoff for U.S. senate. Jackson, Miss. Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. (Photo: Sarah Warnock, Clarion Ledger) 
 
 With lots of help from President Donald Trump, Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith defeated Democrat Mike Espy in Tuesday night's U.S. Senate runoff in Mississippi. 
 
 Hyde-Smith will serve out the final two years of Thad Cochran's term and make history as the first female elected to Congress from Mississippi. Espy would have made history, too. If he'd won, he'd be the first African American Mississippian elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction. 
 
 Hyde-Smith told the crowd at her Jackson election party: "You’ve handed me a victory. I’m not going to let you down. I am going to Washington, D.C., first thing in the morning ... The reason we won is because Mississippians know me and they know my heart." 
 
 "Thank you for stepping up, Mississippi." 
 
 Shortly after the race was called, Trump — who had been in Mississippi rallying for her the night before — tweeted: "Congratulations to Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith on your big WIN in the Great State of Mississippi. We are all very proud of you!" 
 
 Hyde-Smith said she had talked to Trump by phone earlier in the night and told her crowd, "Right now, Mr. President, thank you so much for all of your help." 
 
 Gov. Phil Bryant, a Trump ally, in April appointed Hyde-Smith to Cochran's seat temporarily and helped her campaign and secure Trump's endorsement. 
 
 "Cindy Hyde-Smith has come through the crucible of the most negative campaign in modern Mississippi," Bryant said Tuesday night. "She won with character and dignity —something her opponents know little of. She will continue to serve as the first woman from Mississippi elected to the United States Congress." 
 
 CLOSE Mike Espy told supporters to “keep moving forward” after Cindy Hyde-Smith was declared the winner in the U.S. Senate runoff election. Mississippi Clarion Ledger 
 
 In incomplete and unofficial results, Hyde-Smith led Espy 54 percent to 46 percent. 
 
 “I’m very proud of this historic campaign. And I’m so very grateful for all the support we received across Mississippi,” Espy said in a concession speech, moments after calling Hyde-Smith to congratulate her. He added he hopes she heads back to Washington, D.C. to “unite a very divided Mississippi.” 
 
 Espy reflected on what he called a grassroots campaign organization that was the “largest in a generation” in Mississippi. And he framed his run as only the start of a movement in a state that has long been dominated by Republican leadership. 
 
 "Make no mistake,” Espy said. "Tonight is the beginning, tonight is not the end. For those of you out there who have met in these universities, who have looked at our campaign, looked under the hood, and decided one day you want to run for office — go for it.” 
 
 Espy and Hyde-Smith were forced into a runoff when neither candidate took more than 50 percent in the four-way Nov. 6 special election. Each received about 41 percent of the vote in that contest. 
 
 The runoff — the final outlier of this year's congressional midterms — drew the eyes of the nation, and Mississippi was cast in a harsh light as issues of race dominated the narrative in the closing weeks. 
 
 Comments Hyde-Smith referred to as an "exaggerated expression" about attending a public hanging if a friend invited her attracted a flurry of criticism, national media attention and references to Mississippi's dark past including lynchings. 
 
 Sensing an opening in recent weeks, national Democrats focused money and energy on a Senate seat that would otherwise have been considered safely Republican in one of the reddest states in the country. This prompted the national GOP — and even Trump — to respond to help Hyde-Smith in the weeks between the Nov. 6 vote and Tuesday's runoff. Nearly $5 million was spent on TV ads for the three weeks before the runoff. 
 
 Trump held rallies for Hyde-Smith in Tupelo and Biloxi on the eve of the election, saying, "I don't want to take my chances," as he hoped to increase the GOP majority in the Senate to 53-47 with her win. Trump's support previously appeared to buoy Hyde-Smith before the Nov. 6 special election, where she had faced a serious Republican challenger and the runoff. 
 
 Trump's endorsement and her devotion to him and his agenda was the main theme of Hyde-Smith's campaign, which otherwise relied on Republican red meat issues such as abortion, border security, gun rights, Senate confirmation of conservative judges and "our conservative values." 
 
 Political experts in Mississippi said the Senate seat should have been an easy win for Republicans. 
 
 “It should have been a slam dunk,” said John Bruce, who chairs the Political Science Department at the University of Mississippi. “We’re here because of the president and the national mood. And we’re here because Cindy Hyde-Smith has run a bad campaign. She has tripped over herself more than once.” 
 
 Hyde-Smith, 59, of Brookhaven, is a cattle farmer and stockyard/auction owner. She is a former state senator and former state agriculture commissioner — the first woman to hold that post. 
 
 More: Who is Mississippi Senate candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith? 
 
 Espy, 64, of Madison, is an attorney, a former U.S. representative and former U.S. secretary of agriculture in the Clinton administration. In 1986 he was elected Mississippi's first African American in Congress since Reconstruction and in 1993 became the first African-American secretary of agriculture with President Bill Clinton's appointment. 
 
 More: Who is Mississippi Senate candidate Mike Espy? 
 
 Throughout the campaign, Espy played up his bipartisan credentials. He often avoided discussing or criticizing Trump, mentioned he'd endorsed former Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, and often steered the conversation back to health care — including protections for pre-existing conditions, rejuvenating Mississippi's struggling rural hospitals and lowering drug prices. 
 
 Even as Espy attracted help from major Democratic stars such as California Sen. Kamala Harris and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker on the campaign trail in recent days, he often repeated that he would vote independently if elected, and said he would keep a "Mississippi first" mindset. He held back in going after Hyde-Smith publicly over the hanging remarks, though his campaign did release ads slamming her, and in a recent debate, Espy said: "I don't know what's in your heart, but we all know what came out of your mouth," and added it had given the state a "black eye." 
 
 For months before the Nov. 6 special election vote, the race appeared more of a Republican primary than a nonpartisan general special election. Hyde-Smith and serious Republican challenger state Sen. Chris McDaniel focused most of their attention and campaigning on each other. Espy, not facing a serious Democratic challenger, was nearly assured a spot in the expected runoff as the Republicans clashed. 
 
 For Hyde-Smith, whose Republican bona fides had been questioned because of her having previously been a Democrat, Trump's endorsement in August was seen as crucial to fend off McDaniel for the first vote. 
 
 For the runoff, Trump's Mississippi rallies were crucial to Hyde-Smith for turnout of former McDaniel supporters and to help after her public hanging and other comments appeared to fire up Democrats for Espy. 
 
 The Mississippi runoff sparked a national conversation — or at times national argument — about race and questions about what progress Mississippi has made. 
 
 "While we are hopeful that the Senator-elect will prove herself worthy of her new office, this election demonstrates the need to continue broadening the tent of civic and democratic participation in our nation," the NAACP said in a statement Tuesday night. "We must continue to organize, empower Americans to make their voices heard, and use and harness this power to produce real change in Mississippi and nationwide." 
 
 Tuesday's results weren't Democrat Doug Jones upsetting a Republican to win a Senate seat in Alabama last year, or even Democrat Stacey Abrams nearly knocking out Republican Brian Kemp for governor in Georgia earlier this month. 
 
 But following Espy's campaign party, attendees Christina Spann, 27, and Courtney Warner, 24, said despite Espy's loss, they viewed Mississippi as moving in a new direction — and perhaps toward electing a Democrat to statewide office in the next few years. 
 
 "There's hope for the future," Warner said, noting Espy could always run again in two years. "More people are paying attention, and we're mobilizing more people to get out and vote." 
 
 "It's great for people our age and younger to see that movement and be encouraged," added Spann. "If you want change, you always have to have hope." 
 
 Wearing a Navy Seabee hat, Rich Huffstutler of Lawrence County stood in the thick of the Hyde-Smith victory crowd taking in the results. He said Hyde-Smith's office worked as a liason between him and a local Veterans Affairs center when he dealt with some issues a few months ago. 
 
 "It's a good day for veterans," he said of Hyde-Smith's victory. 
 
 Hyde-Smith said: "This victory is about our conservative values. It's about the things that mean the most to all of us Mississippians, our faith, our family. It's those things I will take to Washington, D.C. I want to represent all Mississippians with these values and I will fight I assure you every single day." 
 
 Contact Geoff Pender at 601-961-7266 or gpender@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter. 
 
 President Donald Trump speaks to fellow panelsits of a criminal justice reform round table held at the Mississippi Air National Guard basr in Gulport prior to a 'MAGA Christmas' rally in Biloxi at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in support of U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's runoff against Mike Espy for senate. Monday, Nov. 26, 2018. (Photo: Sarah Warnock, Clarion Ledger) 
 
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– Will it be 53-47 or 52-48? The last election of 2018 will determine the Republican advantage in the Senate next year. GOP incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith is trying to fend off Democratic challenger Mike Espy in Mississippi in Tuesday's special election. As Politico reports, Hyde-Pierce has never trailed in the polls and continues to be the favorite to win, but a string of controversies—starting with her joke about a public hanging—has given Espy a bigger-than-expected shot at becoming the state's first black senator since Reconstruction. "A wounded front-runner" is how a political science professor in Jackson describes Hyde-Smith to Reuters. President Trump easily won the state in 2016, and he held two rallies there Monday for his fellow Republican. "Her heart is good," Trump said of Hyde-Smith, per CNN. Trump called her controversial joke "sad and a little flip," but he defended her explanation that it was meant as a good-natured way of praising a supporter. "When I spoke to her—she called me—she said, 'I said something that I meant exactly very different,' and I heard an apology loud and clear," Trump said. As for Espy: "How does he fit in with Mississippi?" the president asked, as noted by CNBC. "I mean, how does he fit in?" The website FiveThirtyEight reports that a survey last week had Hyde-Smith up 54% to 44%. (Major League Baseball was among those to ask for its donation back from Hyde-Smith.)