'Nasty' GOP primary brewing in ruby red state could hand Democrats a golden opportunity

Louisiana Democrats are relishing the possibility that a bruising Republican primary could hand them an opportunity to pick up a Senate seat.

The chances for Democrats to retake control of the U.S. Senate look bleak for next year, but Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) faces challenges from GOP state treasurer John Fleming and state Sen. Blake Miguez (R-New Iberia), and he might not pick up President Donald Trump's endorsement, reported NOTUS.

“Republicans are careening towards a nasty primary in Louisiana, where Senator Cassidy’s popularity with the base is cratering and multiple primary challengers are threatening a campaign against him – and whoever limps out of the primary will have to answer for the devastating impact of Medicaid cuts on Louisiana,” said Maeve Coyle, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee communications director.

Cassidy's confirmation vote for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as the GOP budget cuts passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, could work against him in a general election, but Democrats still need to find a candidate to face the two-term incumbent or one of his GOP challengers.

“If we don’t have a viable, high-profile candidate, then we’re going to concentrate on, as we have been doing, on developing new young leaders who can hopefully aspire to run for office,” said Randal Gaines, chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party, "and it won’t happen overnight. It’s a long game.”

Democrats are waiting to see whether former Gov. John Bel Edwards runs for Senate, which would likely keep other Democrats from jumping into the race.

“His best hope would be that the Republican primary gets very nasty,” said Robert Collins, a professor of urban studies and public policy at Dillard University. “They attack each other, slice each other up and do a lot of damage to each other’s reputation, and then when they get to him, he’ll just be sitting there without having to run a real primary, and he’ll be ready to go.”

Republicans say they're not concerned about losing the seat to Democrats, but Cassidy's handling of Kennedy's nomination and his vote to impeach Trump over Jan. 6 might cost him with primary voters.

“Pro-Trump people feel that he damaged RFK Jr. a lot by making [his confirmation] so difficult,” said Fleming, a primary challenger who previously served as Trump’s deputy chief of staff. “But then the Democrats are upset with him for having given in and voted for RFK Jr, which they did not want to see. So I think that the mistake that he made was he should have either been all for him right from the beginning and voting for him, or he should have stayed with his original position and voted against him.”