Politics

Cindy Hyde-Smith Sworn in for Second Time This Year

Appointed Mississippi Republican won special election in November

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., participates in a mock swearing-in ceremony with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in the Capitol’s Old Senate Chamber after the real swear in on the Senate floor on December 17, 2018. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., participates in a mock swearing-in ceremony with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in the Capitol’s Old Senate Chamber after the real swear in on the Senate floor on December 17, 2018. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Jason Dick
By Jason Dick
Posted December 17, 2018 at 5:16pm

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith was sworn into office for the second time in 2018, the result of having won a special election runoff for the seat she had been appointed to earlier this year.

On Monday afternoon, as the Senate started its workweek, Senate President Pro Tempore Orrin G. Hatch administered the oath of office to the Mississippi Republican. In March, Republican Gov. Phil Bryant appointed her to replace Republican Thad Cochran, who resigned. She took the oath of office on April 9 and immediately went about the business of running in November’s special election to fill out the remainder of Cochran’s term. 

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., participates in her swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol's Old Senate Chamber with Vice President Mike Pence, right, and her husband Michael, after being sworn in on the Senate floor on April 9, 2018. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant appears at left. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., participates in her swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol’s Old Senate Chamber with Vice President Mike Pence, right, and her husband Michael, after being sworn in on the Senate floor on April 9, 2018. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant appears at left. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

That election was marred by comments she made that dredged up Mississippi’s history of lynchings, voter suppression and Confederate heritage. Chief among them was a video that showed her telling a supporter that she would “be on the front row” of a public hanging if he invited her. 

She and former Democratic Rep. Mike Espy advanced to the special election run-off when no candidate garnered majority support. She then defeated Espy on Nov. 27 in the runoff, becoming the first woman from Mississippi to be elected to Congress.

And if Hyde-Smith wants to be sworn in a third time, she’s only got a little bit of time to prepare for a run for a full term. The election for that is in 2020.