Article snippet: A backlash against Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s (R) “public hanging” joke is shaking up the Senate runoff race in Mississippi, prompting Republican concerns about their chances of retaining the deep-red seat. A video shared by a blogger on Sunday showed Hyde-Smith, who’s running in the special election for former Sen. joking that she’d be “on the front row” should a supporter she was campaigning with invite her to a “public hanging.” The joke drew sharp criticism in a state with a history of lynchings and a significant African-American population. It also came amidst a recently-concluded national campaign season that has featured controversial remarks about race. Hyde-Smith faces Democrat Mike Espy. He’s vying to become the state's first black senator since Reconstruction in the Nov. 27 runoff after neither of the two won more than 50 percent of the vote in a four-way special election last week. Democrats still face tough odds of pulling off an upset in a state that hasn’t elected a member of that party to the Senate since 1982. But strategists believe the comments are helping to mobilize Espy’s base in a likely low-turnout race held just days after Thanksgiving. National Republicans are now investing in the race, while also looking to bring in MORE as they look to lock down one of the two the last remaining Senate races in the country. The other if the still too-close-to-call Florida contest. The GOP currently holds a 51-47 seat majority. “Republicans who are paying... Link to the full article to read more