By james art Parts of Louisiana’s political class have speculated that U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy will serve out two terms in the upper house and call it a day instead of running for re-election in 2026. A look at his fundraising totals, however, tells a very different story. history.
Not only is Cassidy way ahead of his fundraising pace compared to his last election, but he also has the best-funded campaign of any Senate candidate in Louisiana history (at this point in the cycle), according to his election team.
Cassidy has raised nearly $1.5 million through re-election, leadership and joint fundraising committees in the third quarter of 2024 — the last full quarter before the 2026 election cycle begins. He will close the quarter with $5.8 million in number for its main election committee and more than $1 million in its SuperPAC.
Not to mention the $2.2 million he raised or gave to help Republicans running for Senate this year. All this with two years left in his current term.
“Our donors include people who have been with Senator Cassidy since the beginning, but they also include many new people,” says a spokesperson. “There is a lot of enthusiasm from people across the state who appreciate Sen. Cassidy for delivering to Louisiana.”
A closer look at his campaign finances, however, reveals that Cassidy relied heavily on large individual donations this cycle, as opposed to smaller donors such as the campaign of US Senator John F. Kennedy, as well as heavy support from political action committees.
Although healthcare professionals have always been Cassidy’s leading industry in terms of donations, he has been able to increase their level of engagement this term, attracting larger contributions during that time from pharmaceutical companies, healthcare teams, health maintenance organizations , hospital systems and nursing homes in particular.
As such, Cassidy’s team doesn’t appear to have any specific concerns about his re-election, at least not publicly. But should they be worried?
Cassidy’s vote to convict then-President Donald Trump in Trump’s second impeachment trial earned an official censure from the Louisiana Republican Party. Under President Joe Biden, Cassidy helped craft a bipartisan infrastructure bill that his fellow Republicans rejected.
His team views the impeachment vote as ancient history, adding that Cassidy worked closely with Trump during his first term as president and looks forward to doing so again. And they are happy to promote the infrastructure bill; as it turns out, people like roads, bridges and flood protection.
But even if Cassidy is widely popular, he still lacks the trust of much of the conservative base. And in 2026, assuming he runs as a Republican, he’ll have to go through a party primary where he could face a serious challenge from his right.
Cassidy condemned the new primary system, which Gov. Jeff Landry pushed through with the blessing of U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy, citing the cost. But his supporters will note that he won the party primaries in 2008 and 2010 in his race for the US House of Representatives.
“He’s going to need money to fend off anyone who’s going to run against him,” said Pearson Cross, a political scientist who directs the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences at UL Monroe. “If he does go up against a well-known and well-funded challenger on the right, that could be a real problem for him.”
But who could that contender be? Treasurer John Fleming is one possibility. He finished fifth in the 2016 open primary for the Senate seat that Kennedy won and has served in the US House of Representatives and in the Trump administration.
Public Service Commissioner Eric Skarmetta is another. He was chosen to deliver Louisiana delegate votes for Trump during the Republican National Convention, where it was rumored that he might run for Cassidy in 2026.
Of the current members of the delegation, Cross could see U.S. Representative Clay Higgins shooting.
But while political analyst, former Senate staffer and Dillard University professor Robert Collins also expects a challenge for Cassidy from the right, he sees no real threats on the horizon.
“It would have to be a Trump-endorsed candidate who’s already known around the state and can do outside fundraising, and I don’t know who that would be,” Collins says. “Other than Jeff Landry, the guy I just mentioned doesn’t exist.”
And at this point, Landry doesn’t seem to have any burning desire to return to D.C., where he served a term in the House. Incumbent senators are hard to remove, and they receive donations from groups that only give to incumbents.
“What his rival has [in their campaign war chest]he’ll be able to triple or quadruple it,” says Collins.
Jeremy Alford posted LaPoliticks weekly newspaperLouisiana Politics Bulletin, c LaPolitics.com. Follow him Facebook or X (formerly Twitter). He can be reached at [email protected].