U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, during the Mayorkas impeachment hearing
Health, Education, and Labor Committee Chair Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, on Feb. 13, 2025. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, announced March 20, 2025 that he would not challenge Cassidy’s reelection.
U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, during the Mayorkas impeachment hearing
Health, Education, and Labor Committee Chair Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, on Feb. 13, 2025. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, announced March 20, 2025 that he would not challenge Cassidy’s reelection.
WASHINGTON – Acadiana U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins wrote in a letter Thursday that he would not run in the 2026 U.S. Senate — even though he pointed to a poll that found he would have won.
“It is my considered determination that, current engagement in the House being incredibly significant, it may be ultimately more beneficial to the Republic that I remain in service to the MAGA America First agenda as a senior Republican in the House of Representatives,” wrote Higgins, R-Lafayette. “So, fellow citizen, I shall continue to serve you in the People’s House.”
Higgins did not endorse incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Baton Rouge Republican who has angered many right-wing Republicans after voting to convict President Donald Trump of impeachment charges for provoking the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“I respect the Senator, I thank him for his service, and I wish him well,” Higgins wrote. “A MAGA America First Republican candidate will emerge, my Brothers and Sisters, and that Louisiana Patriot Republican nominee will be held accountable to stand by their promise to We the People of Louisiana. I shall be watching, in this season, very, very closely.”
Cassidy responded Thursday, “Clay and I both love our country and Louisiana. We’re both working to defend the American Dream and support President Trump’s Pro-America agenda. He’s a man of strong faith and will continue serving southwest Louisiana well.”
State Treasurer John Fleming, R-Minden, is the only announced challenger to Cassidy. A former congressman, Fleming also worked in the White House during Trump’s first term.
State Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, and Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, R-Metairie, have made noises about also challenging Cassidy from the right. U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Start, and former U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, have been named by others as potential candidates, but they have nothing to say about the possibility.
Higgins said he commissioned a poll by the Trafalgar Group, of Atlanta, which was released March 12. The survey questioned 1,068 Louisiana voters, with a 2.9% margin of error, on the candidacies of Cassidy, Higgins, Fleming and the other four.
Trafalgar Group poll showed Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, with 30.7% support in the April 2026 Republican primary.
Higgins was shown with 30.7% support in the April 2026 Republican primary. Most of Higgins support is based in his congressional district, where more than two-thirds of the Republicans back him.
Cassidy scored 23.5% support, with most of his backing coming from Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport.
“Incumbent Cassidy is especially vulnerable in front of a Republican primary audience,” Trafalgar reported.
None of the named candidates could win in the primary outright, the poll says. Both Letlow and Higgins could beat Cassidy in a GOP runoff, it says.
The Louisiana Legislature changed the state’s primary election system in January 2024 so that Republicans vote for Republicans and Democrats for Democrats. Voters without party affiliation can chose which primary to participate.
Then the winning Democrat faces the winning Republican in the November general election.
Previously, all candidates faced each other, regardless of party. If nobody won outright, then the two top vote-getters met in a runoff.
Trump is one of the most popular politicians ever to be on a Louisiana ballot, carrying 58% to 60% of voters in the past three presidential elections. Only Trump has polled more Louisiana voters — 1.25 million in 2020 — than Cassidy, who got 1.23 million votes to win without a runoff that same year.
Cassidy has $6.5 million ready to spend for this campaign and has most of the major GOP funders on his finance committee.
Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.
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