Poll: Runoff likely in Mississippi Senate special election

The special election for Mississippi’s senate is looking increasingly likely to head to a runoff, according to a new poll.

None of the four candidates in the “jungle primary” have enough support to reach to the 50 percent threshold and avoid a runoff, an NBC News/Marist poll released Tuesday finds.

{mosads}Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R), who was appointed when Republican Thad Cochran’s retirement in March, leads the poll with 38 percent support, well short of the 50 percent mark. President Trump endorsed Hyde-Smith in August.

Democrat Mike Espy follows with 29 percent support, while conservative GOP candidate Chris McDaniel got 15 percent and Democrat Tobey Bartee received 2 percent.

The poll found that in a runoff between the top two finishers, Hyde-Smith got 50 percent support compared to Espy’s 36 percent.

In a runoff between Espy and McDaniel, Espy leads with 43 percent support to McDaniel’s 36 percent.

Should a runoff be necessary, it would take place three weeks after Election Day — creating the possibility that control of the Senate could be decided by the results of the runoff. 

Trump won Mississippi in 2016 by 18 points over Hillary Clinton and currently holds a 60 percent approval rating in the state, according to the survey.

The poll was conducted Oct. 13-18 and surveyed 511 likely voters with a margin of error of 6.1 percentage points.