The Latest: Espy says he's better for women than Hyde-Smith

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Latest on Mississippi's U.S. Senate runoff (all times local):

2 p.m.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mike Espy is telling a gathering of Democratic women that he's a better choice to aid women in Mississippi than Cindy Hyde-Smith, the first woman to ever represent the state in Congress.

Espy and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, a California Democrat and possible 2020 presidential candidate, held a women's breakfast Saturday morning in Jackson.

The former congressman and secretary of agriculture cites his support for expanded health care coverage, gender equity, reducing student debt, and protecting insurance availability for people with pre-existing health conditions.

The event came on the same morning that President Donald Trump announced he would return to Mississippi on Nov. 26, the day before the runoff between Espy and Hyde-Smith, to hold rallies in Tupelo and Biloxi for Hyde-Smith.

The two are vying for the final two years of a six-year term.

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11:25 a.m.

President Donald Trump will rally for Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith in not one, but two Mississippi cities on the eve of her Nov. 27 U.S. Senate runoff election against Democrat Mike Espy.

The Trump campaign announced Saturday that it will hold one rally at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 26, in Tupelo, and a second event three hours later in Biloxi.

Hyde-Smith and Espy are vying for the final two years of a six-year term. Gov. Phil Bryant appointed Hyde-Smith, a former state agriculture commissioner, to the Senate post after U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran retired. Espy was Mississippi's first African-American U.S. House member in the 20th century and U.S. secretary of agriculture under President Bill Clinton.

Trump endorsed Hyde-Smith in August, and they appeared at an October rally in northern Mississippi.