Mississippi candidates Mike Epsy and Cindy Hyde-Smith face off in Senate debate

Mike Espy and Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith will face off Tuesday evening for a debate in Mississippi’s runoff election for the U.S. Senate.

Smith has come under fire in the past few weeks after saying that if one of her donors asked her to attend a public hanging she would do it. The phrasing was racially charged given Mississippi's history of "public hangings" generally referred to as lynchings.

Smith maintained she didn't mean anything racial by the comment and claimed it was nothing more than a joke. Today, however, a photo surfaced of Smith in Confederate geer with a big smile. It prompted many on Twitter to question if the Republican was tryingsuppressinger racist sentiments from voters.

To make matters worse, Smith was also caught on camera bragging about voter suppression, in a state that has a history of supressing African American voters from getting to the polls.

The biggest struggle for the candidates will be in reinvigorating the electorate during the holiday season and after the 2018 midterm elections have ended.

Watch both candidates in the video below: