Louisiana incumbents have raised more than $60 million to protect their seats, giving them the ability to reach virtually every voter by covering the television airwaves with campaign ads ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
Republican Senator John Kennedy broke all Louisiana records by raising $36.3 million, but Republican incumbents Garret Graves, Julia Letlow and Steve Scalise raised $1.75 million or more (Scalise raised $18.1 million), incumbent Democratic Rep. Troy Carter raised $2.93 million, and Republican U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins raised $870,819.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Luke Mixon successfully raised $1.8 million and bought spots in all major Louisiana TV markets and Higgins-defying Republican Holden Hoggatt raised enough for a TV presence in the 3rd congressional district, but so far no other challenger has any significant presence on pay television.
But that doesn’t mean those who can’t afford TV can’t reach voters on other platforms.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Gary Chambers Jr. was able to raise $1.55 million by generating a national buzz and gained television time through the success of provocative commercials like the one of him smoking marijuana that attracted millions of views.
Scalise-challenging Democrat Katie Darling had similar social media success with a campaign ad featuring Darling giving birth to her second child.
Will these millions of views on social networks translate into votes? We will find out on November 8.
Here are the latest campaign finance reports from candidates in each congressional race:
US Senate (statewide): Incumbent Republican John Kennedy raised $36.3 million, a Louisiana record for any campaign, with $15.5 million in cash; Luke Mixon, a Democrat, raised $1.8 million with $590,148 in cash; and Gary Chambers, a Democrat, raised $1.55 million with $20,415 in hand.
First Congressional District (suburban New Orleans and parts of Bayou Country): Incumbent Republican Steve Scalise raised $18.1 million with $4.7 million in cash; and Katie Darling, a Democrat, raised $36,657 with $8,603 in cash.
Second Congressional District (City of New Orleans and parts of Baton Rouge): Incumbent Democrat Troy Carter raised $2.93 million with $615,058 in cash; and Dan Lux, a Republican, raised $29,915 with $9,227 in cash.
Third Congressional District (Acadiana and Southwest Louisiana): Incumbent Republican Clay Higgins raised $870,819 with $314,102 in cash; Holden Hoggatt, a Republican, raised $140,914 with $79,095 in cash; Tia Marie LeBrun, a Democrat, raised $28,645 with $10,903 in cash; and Thomas Layne Payne, a Republican, raised $13,095 with $3,459 in cash.
Fourth Congressional District (Shreveport-Bossier City is the population center): Incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Mike Johnson was unopposed and automatically re-elected, but he raised $1.28 million with $906,346 in cash.
Fifth Congressional District (Monroe and Alexandria are population centers): Incumbent Republican Julia Letlow raised $2.63 million with $1.16 million in cash; no other candidate filed a report.
Sixth Congressional District (Baton Rouge and Bayou Country): Incumbent Republican Garret Graves raised $1.75 million with $2.6 million in cash; no other candidate filed a report.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Louisiana Network. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1
