Bill Cassidy's Latest Challenger

Hy and Christopher spend the second half of the Founders Show talking about the entrance of Eric Skrmetta into the US Senate race on Friday, July 25. Qualifying is actually in December for a closed primary in April 2026, so his primary election occurs less than nine months from today. The Louisiana Public Service Commissioner, who represents a district the size of a congressional seat, cuts into US Sen. Bill Cassidy’s support in the metro New Orleans area and the Florida parishes, the critical part of the incumbent Senator’s base of support. (Skrmetta’s current district stretches across Jefferson, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington Parishes.) A new video announcing his bid for the US Senate emphasizes some of Skrmetta’s accomplishments, including playing a major role and bringing a massive Steel-production facility to Donaldsonville and his expertise on energy matters — especially his successes in cutting utility bills for his constituents, saving over $8 billion in costs, and giving Louisiana the lowest utility rates in America. The video further outlines his biography as the son of working-class entrepreneurs from New Orleans, as well as his lifelong connection with the Republican Party culminating in his role as Louisiana Chairman for Trump in 2020. Hy and Christopher discuss how Skrmetta’s entrance into the race is bad news for not only US Sen. Bill Cassidy (who has been a target of Donald Trump‘s since voting to convict on impeachment in 2021), but also his previously announced primary opponents LA Treasurer John Fleming and State Sen. Blake Miguez, both of whom have been trying to claim the MAGA mantle with far less credibility than Eric Skrmetta can boast. In the first half of the show, we speak with Jordan LaHaye Fontenot, and talk about her new book on a true crime case in Evangeline Parish. Her great-grandfather was murdered, his case never fully solved, and her new book explores some of the conspiracy theories about the death of the prominent small town, Acadiana banker. Signed copies of “Home of the Happy: A Murder on the Cajun Prairie” are available at the Garden District Book Shop at https://www.gardendistrictbookshop.com or by calling (504) 895-2266. Fontenot is also the editor of Country Roads Magazine, and we talk about chronically in Louisiana each month from festivals to the arts.