U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy’s supporters are getting energized about the 2026 reelection cycle following a Monday night fundraiser that yielded more than $350,000 for the Baton Rouge physician’s campaign.
Hosted by GOP megadonor and shipbuilding magnate Boysie Bollinger at his Four Seasons apartment in New Orleans, the event was also co-hosted by a long list of others that included Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and state Senate President Cameron Henry.
To put the fundraising haul into perspective, Cassidy was already sitting on $5.2 million in his campaign finance account at the end of the last quarter. By comparison, at this point during the last Senate cycle, Cassidy’s cash on hand was $2.7 million. Major donors who are rallying around Cassidy’s 2026 bid are eager to see how much momentum they’ve built for the incumbent.
Part of that answer will arrive in a couple weeks when the next quarterly report is due to the Federal Election Commission.
Additionally, donors say Louisiana Legacy PAC, a pro-Cassidy super PAC, is gearing up for a fight as well. Legacy PAC has so far raised $670,000 this cycle, but that number should climb based on historic fundraising patterns. During the 2020 cycle, the PAC raised and spent about $1.2 million.
—An influential conservative think tank is planning a six-figure (mostly digital) media buy to support a fiscal overhaul for Louisiana that calls for stronger expenditure limits and eventually phasing out income taxes.
The Pelican Institute for Public Policy says its plan could create 5,000 new jobs and $2 billion in economic growth in the first year.
“Budget restraint has to be part of any fiscal reform plan for the success of the state,” Pelican CEO Daniel Erspamer says. “This is a generational opportunity to get Louisiana’s fiscal house in order so that we can bring our kids and grandkids home and unleash economic opportunity.”
Phasing out the personal income tax would take about eight years, under the plan’s model. The first step would be replacing the current three-tiered system with a 3.5% flat tax and a $12,500 standard deduction. Once the personal income tax is gone, the plan calls for phasing out the corporate income tax.
Step one for the corporate side also would be a 3.5% flat rate, combined with the elimination of at least $500 million in tax preferences.
Other key proposals include eliminating the corporate franchise tax and establishing a spending limit that is more difficult to exceed and based on population growth and inflation.
“To further reduce complexity in the tax structure, while also helping to stabilize government revenues, it is important to consistently review all tax preferences,” according to a report compiled by the outfit. “Lawmakers should immediately repeal at least $500 million in corporate tax preferences and all $114 million of the tax preferences associated with the corporate franchise tax.”
The proposal to implement a flat income tax rate, with an eye toward eliminating income taxes over the long term while broadening the tax base by cutting exemptions, seems compatible with what Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson has discussed publicly. Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration is hoping for legislative support to pass a tax overhaul package during a November special session.
—They said it: “I don’t have a problem with some tradition, if that’s something that the chief of our state wants to see happen.” –Former LSU basketball star and current Board of Supervisors member Collis Temple Jr. on Gov. Landry’s push to have a tiger at games, in the Illuminator.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
