[Updated Oct. 26] Senator Landrieu comes from a famous Louisiana political family and chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee – an important post for a state whose economy centers on oil and gas. But those two points may not be enough to save her job. The State Department announcement April 18 that it was delaying – again – a decision on whether to build the Keystone XL pipeline undermined her claims of clout with the Obama administration.
The leading Republican running against her, Rep. Bill Cassidy, has done well in fundraising but not as well as Landrieu.
Louisiana has no primaries; all the candidates will run against one another on Election Day, and if no one wins a majority, the top two finishers will compete in a runoff on Dec. 6.
Two nonpartisan handicappers – Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball – call the race a tossup. A third, Rothenberg Political Report, calls it tossup/tilt Republican.
