Senator Bill Cassidy (R) - Louisiana
The 2019 election season is over and we can start to look ahead to 2020, as Republican U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy is up for re-election. ULM Political Science Professor Dr. Joshua Stockley says even though Democratic Governor Edwards just won re-election, there’s not another Democrat out there who can seriously challenge Cassidy.
“That might strike some as odd, but John Bel Edwards is probably more of the exception for Democrats in the south than the rule,” says Stockley.
Cassidy was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014, beating incumbent Mary Landrieu 56% to 44%.
The President put a lot of time and effort into flipping the Governor’s Mansion but ultimately failed. Stockley says even though Rispone ran as a Trump proxy, his loss is no referendum on the President who remains popular statewide.
“Donald Trump was not on the ballot, and Donald Trump did not lose,” says Stockley. “I say that intentionally because at present I still don’t see Louisiana as being remotely in play”
In 2016 President Trump won the state 58-38 over Hillary Clinton.
All of Louisiana’s Congressional seats will be up in 2020, but Stockley says none of the incumbents will face a real threat. The only question mark is whether or not Congressman Abraham will retire, a decision that Stockley says needs to be made soon.
“In the same way that John Kennedy prolonged his decision about the gubernatorial election, people want to know, people need to make decisions,” says Stockley.
