In results that left Republicans from Jackson, Mississippi to Washington DC breathless, a just-completed NBC poll showed Democrat Mike Espy topping the field of all candidates vying for the seat of Mississippi’s Republican Sen. Thad Cochran (who resigned earlier this year and thus necessitated the special election November 5).

Under Magnolia State law, all candidates regardless of party appear on the same ballot. Should no candidate win a majority of the votes, a run-off between the top two vote-getters will be held in December.

NBC found that Espy — who is black and served as Bill Clinton’s secretary of agriculture— leads among likely voters with 25 percent, followed by appointed Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith 24 percent, fellow Republican and State Sen. Chris McDaniel 18 percent, and Democrat Tobey Bartee 4 percent.

“Espy will probably lead the race with the base Democratic vote—about 35 percent—but the Republican who gets in the runoff should win if the party stays united,” a former Republican state legislator who requested anonymity told Newsmax, “And that could be a big ‘if.’”

The former legislator was referring to the fact that Hyde-Smith and McDaniel clearly dislike one another and represent different factions of their party. President Trump has campaigned with Hyde-Smith and urged her election.

In 2014, with backing from national conservative organizations, McDaniel fell short of unseating the more moderate Cochran in a tight run-off. He never congratulated or endorsed the senator.

“And that’s why McDaniel won’t get into the runoff,” former State GOP Chairman Wirt Yerger, widely considered the father of Mississippi’s Republican Party, told Newsmax, “Mississippians don’t like poor sportsmanship and they remember it.”