Sen. Mary Landrieu (D), chair of the powerful Senate Energy Committee, is in the fight of her political life against Rep. Bill Cassidy (R) in a red-leaning state. If she pulls off a victory, Sen. Landrieu will have strong black-voter turnout and the largesse of the oil and gas industry to thank – she’s raked in impressive amounts from Big Oil, and her lead in the African-American community is keeping her afloat in the polls.
Landrieu is striving to make the campaign about what she can do for oil-rich Louisiana as chair of the Energy Committee; Cassidy argues that a Republican Senate is preferable to a Democrat as Energy Chair – even if that Democrat is from Louisiana.
The race is almost certainly headed to a December run-off, as no candidate is poised to capture over 50 percent of the vote on election day.
