Louisiana state lawmaker challenging Cassidy in GOP primary
Louisiana state Sen. Blake Miguez (R) has launched a primary bid challenging Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) ahead of 2026, adding to a growing field of Republicans vying to unseat the two-term senator.
Miguez in his launch video on Tuesday declares Cassidy 'sucks' and prominently features footage of the GOP senator saying he voted to convict President Trump in 2021. The state lawmaker casts himself as a more conservative alternative.
'Do you want a senator you know will have Trump's back? A straight shooter who doesn't flinch when it's time to fight?' Miguez says in the ad, picking up a rifle. 'I'm you're guy. We're done being fooled by weak Republicans.'
'Bill Cassidy had his shot. He missed. I won't,' Miguez adds, firing his gun, which sets off an explosion in the ad.
A handful of Republicans are looking to beat Cassidy in next year's elections; among the names running, Treasurer John Fleming and Miguez are among the most notable.
Both Fleming and Miguez have positioned themselves as the Trump-aligned, hardline conservative candidate and both are hammering the Louisiana senator for his vote to convict Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack — a vulnerability for the senator in his red state.
The president was ultimately acquitted in the Senate.
Cassidy, meanwhile, has sought to align himself with Trump, including helping get some of the president's more controversial nominees, like Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., confirmed.
He's also aligned himself with Trump's priorities, suggesting, for example, that he's in favor of shutting down the Education Department.
Cassidy is also contending with a different primary system this time around, where he'll have to compete in a Republican primary first before the general election; previously Senate elections used an open primary system where all candidates running for an office ran under one ballot.
If no one candidate outright received a majority of the vote, the top two vote-getters would head to a run-off.
Louisiana still holds some of its elections using the 'jungle' primary system while other offices, including Senate, go through a closed primary process.
Multiple hardline candidates, however, could benefit Cassidy, splitting the vote among more conservative voters and offering Cassidy a potentially easier path to winning the GOP primary.
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