Today, HRC announced its endorsement of former Secretary Mike Espy in his bid for the U.S. Senate.

Secretary Mike Espy has been a strong ally for the LGBTQ community. Espy has committed to co-sponsoring and voting for the Equality Act if elected, crucial federal legislation that would finally guarantee explicit, protections for LGBTQ people under our nation's existing civil rights laws. HRC previously endorsed Espy in his previous bid for this seat.

"Mike Espy is a true ally to LGBTQ people and will be a strong advocate for Mississippi in the U.S. Senate," said HRC President Alphonso David. "Espy’s record of delivering for Mississippi stands in stark contrast to Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith who has failed Mississippi at every opportunity. Hyde-Smith’s indifference towards people of color and LGBTQ people is disqualifying and HRC will work hard to mobilize the almost 100,000 Equality Voters throughout the state to send Mike Espy to the U.S. Senate." 

"I am proud to have the support of the Human Rights Campaign," said Former Secretary Mike Espy. "The work they have done to advance equality in the LGBTQ community across the country is remarkable, and I am humbled by their support for my campaign for US Senate in Mississippi. I believe in the worth of every Mississippian regardless of age, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or varying levels of disability. God made us all in his image. My role as a public official is not to judge, but to assist every person to reach his or her God given potential."

In the 2018 midterms, HRC helped register more than 32,000 voters and recruited more than 4,200 volunteers, who worked over 8,500 shifts and clocked more than 30,000 volunteer hours. In the critical final four days of the campaign, HRC staff and volunteers in get-out-the-vote efforts alone knocked on more than 80,000 doors, and held 36,400 conversations with voters at their doors and by phone on behalf of our endorsed candidates. HRC's unprecedented grassroots mobilization represented an investment of approximately $26 million to recruit volunteers, mobilize constituents, register voters and grow the organization's grassroots army in an all-out effort to pull the emergency brake on the hateful anti-LGBTQ agenda of the Trump-Pence administration and elect a Congress that would hold them accountable.