MS-Sen: McDaniel supporters jeer Sen. Hyde-Smith, attack her past as a Democrat

When Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith made a speech at the Neshoba County Fair on Thursday, supporters of her opponent were out in full force to heckle her and remind her of her political past, Mississippi Today reported.

Hyde-Smith, the former Mississippi agriculture commissioner, faced a more hostile than usual crowd at the annual event, as about 100 supporters of state Sen. Chris McDaniel jeered and shouted during her speech.

"You know, they're easy to recognize," Hyde-Smith said of McDaniel supporters during the speech. "You hear them? They're easy to recognize."

What were they heckling her about?

One of McDaniel's primary attacks against the incumbent senator is her past as a Democrat.

Hyde-Smith was a registered Democrat until 2010, and voted in the Democratic presidential primary in 2008. So when Hyde-Smith said she had been a lifelong conservative, the crowd was not pleased.

"I have been a conservative my entire life, and I am enjoying that record," Hyde-Smith said as the McDaniel supporters protested.

Other comments that garnered particularly strong reactions from the McDaniel supporters included her appointment by Gov. Phil Bryant to fill in for former Sen. Thad Cochran when he resigned, and her thanks to Cochran for his service.

McDaniel lost a bitter primary to Cochran in 2014, and announced his intention to run in the special election for Cochran's seat even before Bryant was appointed as his temporary replacement.

Bryant called McDaniel's move at the time "a sad commentary for a young man who once had great potential."

Election outlook

Hyde-Smith is the favorite to retain the Senate seat during the Nov. 6 special election, but Democratic candidate Mike Espy isn't far behind in most polls. McDaniel sits at third in the polls, and has struggled to fundraise as well as he did in his 2014 campaign.

President Donald Trump has not yet weighed in and endorsed either Republican candidate in the race.