BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Republican Senate candidate Bill Cassidy is getting an assist Monday from a former tea party candidate whose support could give him an edge against Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul also is getting behind Cassidy in the Dec. 6 runoff.
Tea partyer Rob Maness is urging the more than 202,000 people who voted for him in last week’s midterm election to cast ballots for Cassidy.
The twin endorsements come during the first full week of political battle between Cassidy and Landrieu, who aired an ad questioning Cassidy’s fitness for office. The spot, launched Sunday during the New Orleans Saints football game, featured quick cuts from a May 31 speech in which Cassidy appears to stumble over words and repeat himself.
“We’d lose Mary Landrieu’s clout for this?” the narrator says.
Even if Landrieu wins the runoff, she will lose her Senate energy committee chairmanship in January to a Republican. The GOP won at least seven seats, enough for the majority, last week in the midterm elections. The Alaska Senate race has not been called for either Democratic Sen. Mark Begich or Republican Dan Sullivan.