Mike Espy | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Espy in 2012 | |
| 25thUnited States Secretary of Agriculture | |
| In office January 22, 1993 – December 31, 1994 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Edward Madigan |
| Succeeded by | Dan Glickman |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMississippi's2nd district | |
| In office January 3, 1987 – January 22, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Webb Franklin |
| Succeeded by | Bennie Thompson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alphonso Michael Espy (1953-11-30)November 30, 1953 (age 71) Yazoo City, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Portia Ballard |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Henry Espy (brother) Chuck Espy (nephew) |
| Education | Howard University (BA) Santa Clara University (JD) |
| Website | Campaign website |
Alphonso Michael Espy (born November 30, 1953)[1] is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 25thUnited States secretary of agriculture from 1993 to 1994. He was both thefirst African American and the first person from theDeep South to hold the position. A member of theDemocratic Party, Espy previously served as theU.S. representative forMississippi's 2nd congressional district from 1987 to 1993.
In March 2018, Espy announced his candidacy for theUnited States Senate seat being vacated byThad Cochran. Espy placed second inthe November 6 nonpartisan special election before facing RepublicanCindy Hyde-Smith in a November 27runoff. Espy lost the runoff, but garnered more than 46% of the vote in what was the closest U.S. Senate election in Mississippi since1988. He was the Democratic nominee again in the2020 election and lost to Hyde-Smith by ten percentage points.
Espy was born inYazoo City, Mississippi.[1] He is the grandson ofThomas J. Huddleston Sr., founder of theAfro-American Sons and Daughters, afraternal society that operated theAfro-American Hospital, a leading provider of health care for black people in the state from the 1920s to the 1970s. Espy attendedHoward University in Washington, D.C., and was active in student politics, holding several elective positions. He earned hisJuris Doctor fromSanta Clara University School of Law in California in 1978.[citation needed] He currently serves on the board of directors of the Mississippi Center for Justice.
Espy was an attorney with Central Mississippi Legal Services between 1978 and 1980 and during that time he was the Assistant Secretary of State for Mississippi Legal Services.[2] From 1980 to 1984, he was the Assistant Secretary of the State to the Public Lands Division.[2] From 1984 to 1985, he was the AssistantMississippi Attorney General from 1984 to 1985.[2]
In November 1986, Espy was elected as a Democrat to the100th Congress fromMississippi's 2nd congressional district. He defeated two-termRepublicanWebb Franklin to become the first African-American to represent Mississippi at the federal level since theReconstruction era,[3] a position once held by Mississippi Republican SenatorHiram Revels in 1870-1871. Espy was reelected three times.
In December 1992, Espy was chosen by President-electBill Clinton to be theSecretary of Agriculture in the new administration.[4] Following his confirmation by theSenate in late January 1993, Espy resigned from his seat in the House of Representatives.
Thefirst African American and first person from theDeep South to hold the position,[5] Espy served as Secretary of Agriculture from 1993 to 1994. He announced his resignation in October 1994, following questions from the White House over his use of government perks and acceptance of gifts.[5] He was indicted in 1997 for receiving improper gifts, but acquitted of all 30 charges in 1998.[6]
In October 2007, Espy crossed party lines to endorseRepublicanMississippi GovernorHaley Barbour's reelection campaign.[7]
In 2008, Espy became an attorney atMorgan & Morgan, a nationwide law firm, where he handles general plaintiff's law, mass tort, bond and governmental finance, and international relations cases. One of his notable cases was thePigford lawsuit, where Espy worked in conjunction with a black farmers' advocacy group, theNational Black Farmers Association, to represent those farmers.[citation needed]
On March 5, 2018, Republican SenatorThad Cochran announced he would resign as of April 1 for health reasons, triggering a special election. Espy announced his intention to run for the seat that same day, becoming the first declared candidate in the race.[8][9][10] “It’s official. I’m running to be Mississippi’s next U.S. Senator. Too many people here can’t find a decent job, rural hospitals are closing, and the price for education is just too high,” Espy said in a tweet on Tuesday.[1] He called Cochran "a person I admire and respect, and who has done so much for Mississippi over his tenure."[11]
In 2018,CBS described Espy as aconservative Democrat.[12] He has identified his positions asmoderate,[13] making acentrist pitch for his Senate campaign.[14]The Clarion Ledger wrote that Espy sought to "play up his bipartisan credentials, like endorsing former Republican Gov. Haley Barbour. Steer the conversation away from anything controversial, even race, and back to health care."[15] When asked byMSNBC'sChris Matthews to comment on President Trump's criticism of several African-American journalists, Espy "refused to bite", instead redirecting the interview to health care.[15]
A nonpartisan special election took place on November 6, 2018, the same day as the regularly scheduledU.S. Senate election for the seat held byRoger Wicker, who was running for reelection. Party affiliations were not printed on the ballot.[16] After no candidate gained a simple majority of the vote,[17] a runoff election between Espy and RepublicanCindy Hyde-Smith was held on November 27.[18] Espy lost the runoff with 46% of the vote.[19]
Three days after losing the Senate special election runoff to Hyde-Smith, on November 30, 2018, his 65th birthday, Espy filed with theFederal Election Commission (FEC) to run for the seat again in 2020.[20] He lost the general election again with 44% of the vote.[21]
National Journal noted that hisliberal social views are mixed with his support for cutting the federal budget and protecting Mississippi's defense and agricultural industries.[22] In 2018, Espy said that he wanted to cut the government's budget and that he supportsfree trade.[23] He said he probably would have voted for theTax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 but that he wants to "make sure people see the benefits".[15]
Espy supports gun ownership and received theNational Rifle Association of America's (NRA) Silver Rifle Award in 1988 for supporting its positions on gun laws.[24] In 2018, the NRA endorsed Espy's opponent,Cindy Hyde-Smith, for the U.S. Senate, and did not give Espy a rating.[25] In 2019, Espy, who had announced his candidacy for Hyde-Smith's seat, said that her objection to a unanimous consent motion to adopt a House gun control bill, causing the bill to go through the usual committee process, was "a failure of leadership that puts our children's lives in danger."[26]
Espy believes that the decision by Republicans to deny an expansion of Medicaid is why so many rural hospitals in Mississippi have closed.[27]
Espy opposes a border wall, citing cost concerns.[15] He opposes theTrump administration's family separation policy.[15]
In 1986, running for Congress, Espy was consideredpro-choice on abortion.[28] In 2018, he said he was moderate on abortion; he supportsRoe v. Wade but opposes abortion personally.[29] Espy said during his Senate campaign that he would work with anyone regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.[30]
On August 27, 1997, Espy was indicted on charges of receiving improper gifts, including sports tickets, lodging, and airfare. Espy refused toplea bargain and on December 2, 1998, he wasacquitted of all 30 criminal charges in the trial.Independent CounselDonald Smaltz presented more than 70 witnesses during the trial and spent more than $20 million preparing and trying the case.[31]
During testimony before the jury, the prosecution's star witness told Smaltz: "God knows, if I had $30 million, I could find dirt on you, sir."[32] During the trial, Smaltz protested that the defense was injecting race into the trial in what he saw as an appeal to a mostly black jury.
The defense rested without calling any witnesses, arguing simply that the prosecution had not proved its case. The jury deliberated less than 10 hours before finding Espy not guilty on all charges. One of the jurors said, "This was the weakest, most bogus thing I ever saw. I can't believe Mr. Smaltz ever brought this to trial." At least four other jurors echoed this view, though less pointedly.[33] Barbara Bisoni, the only white juror, said Smaltz's case "had holes" and that race never entered into the deliberations.[33]
In 1996,Sun-Diamond Growers was fined $1.5 million for giving Espy $6,000 in gifts; in March 1998 it won a reversal at the Court of Appeals level.[34] Independent Counsel Smaltz appealed that ruling to theSupreme Court. The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals, finding that the gratuities statute requires a link between a gift and an official act. Unable to make such a link, Smaltz dismissed the gratuities charge against Sun-Diamond. The court's unanimous April 1999 opinion, by JusticeAntonin Scalia, stated that the prosecutor's interpretation of the law was so broad that even a high school principal could be in legal trouble for giving a souvenir baseball cap to a visiting Secretary of Education.[35] The Sun-Diamond decision played a pivotal role in Espy's later acquittal because Smaltz was unable to link gifts he received to any official act.
In a separate case during the same investigation, Espy's Chief of Staff, Ronald Blackley, was convicted in late 1997 on three counts of making false statements[36] and sentenced to 27 months in prison.[37]
Controversy also arose in 1994 from a White House discovery that a foundation run byTyson Foods had given Espy's then girlfriend, Patricia Dempsey, a $1,200 scholarship.[5] Administration officials said that the discovery of this scholarship was what forced Espy to resign as Secretary of Agriculture.[5] In December 1997,Tyson Foods pleaded guilty to felony charges of giving Espy gifts.[38]
He married Sheila Bell, with whom he had two children before they divorced.[39] Espy married Portia Ballard in 1999.[40]
| Election results | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Democrat | Votes | % | Republican | Votes | % | Other | Party | Votes | % | |||||||||||||
| 1986[41] | Mike Espy | 73,119 | 51.71% | Webb Franklin | 68,292 | 48.29% | |||||||||||||||||
| 1988[42] | Mike Espy | 112,401 | 64.74% | Jack Coleman | 59,827 | 34.46% | Dorothy Benford | Independent | 1,403 | 0.81% | |||||||||||||
| 1990[43] | Mike Espy | 59,393 | 84.11% | Dorothy Benford | 11,224 | 11.89% | |||||||||||||||||
| 1992[44] | Mike Espy | 135,162 | 77.97% | Dorothy Benford | 38,191 | 22.03% | |||||||||||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Cindy Hyde-Smith (incumbent) | 389,995 | 41.25% | |
| Nonpartisan | Mike Espy | 386,742 | 40.90% | |
| Nonpartisan | Chris McDaniel | 154,878 | 16.38% | |
| Nonpartisan | Tobey Bartee | 13,852 | 1.47% | |
| Total votes | 945,467 | 100% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Cindy Hyde-Smith (incumbent) | 486,769 | 53.63% | -6.27% | |
| Nonpartisan | Mike Espy | 420,819 | 46.37% | +8.48% | |
| Total votes | 907,588 | 100% | N/A | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Cindy Hyde-Smith (incumbent) | 709,539 | 54.10% | +0.47% | |
| Democratic | Mike Espy | 578,806 | 44.13% | −2.24% | |
| Libertarian | Jimmy Edwards | 23,152 | 1.77% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 1,311,497 | 100% | |||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMississippi's 2nd congressional district 1987–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Agriculture 1993–1994 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromMississippi (Class 2) 2018,2020 | Most recent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Cabinet Member | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Cabinet Member | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Cabinet Member |
 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
