United States Senate election in Louisiana, 2020

Elections in Louisiana, 2020

• Election date: Nov. 3 (first round); Dec. 5 (second round)
• Registration deadline(s): First round: Oct. 5; Oct. 13 (hand-delivered, online); Second round: Nov. 4; Nov. 14 (online)
• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: No
• Recount laws

• Early voting starts: First round: Oct. 16; Second round: Nov. 20
• Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): First round: Nov. 2 (received); Second round: Dec. 4 (received)
• Processing, counting, and challenging absentee/mail-in ballots
• Voter ID: Photo ID
• Poll times: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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2022 → ← 2016
U.S. Senate, Louisiana
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: July 24, 2020
Primary: November 3, 2020 General: December 5, 2020 Pre-election incumbent: Bill Cassidy (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Tuesday elections) 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Saturday elections) Voting in Louisiana
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican Inside Elections: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
U.S. Senate, Louisiana U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th Louisiana elections, 2020 U.S. Congress elections, 2020 U.S. Senate elections, 2020 U.S. House elections, 2020 Alabama U.S. Senate raceAlaska U.S. Senate raceArizona U.S. Senate raceArkansas U.S. Senate raceColorado U.S. Senate raceDelaware U.S. Senate raceGeorgia U.S. Senate raceIdaho U.S. Senate raceIllinois U.S. Senate raceIowa U.S. Senate raceKansas U.S. Senate raceKentucky U.S. Senate raceLouisiana U.S. Senate raceMaine U.S. Senate raceMassachusetts U.S. Senate raceMichigan U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate raceMississippi U.S. Senate raceMontana U.S. Senate raceNebraska U.S. Senate raceNew Hampshire U.S. Senate raceNew Jersey U.S. Senate raceNew Mexico U.S. Senate raceNorth Carolina U.S. Senate raceOklahoma U.S. Senate raceOregon U.S. Senate raceRhode Island U.S. Senate raceSouth Carolina U.S. Senate raceSouth Dakota U.S. Senate raceTennessee U.S. Senate raceTexas U.S. Senate raceVirginia U.S. Senate raceWest Virginia U.S. Senate raceWyoming U.S. Senate raceSubmit

Louisiana held an election for U.S. Senate on November 3, 2020, for all candidates.

Louisiana elections use the Louisiana majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Incumbent Bill Cassidy (R) won re-election in the primary for U.S. Senate Louisiana.

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
July 24, 2020	November 3, 2020	December 5, 2020

The election filled the Class II Senate seat held by Bill Cassidy (R). Cassidy was first elected in 2014.

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Louisiana modified its absentee/mail-in voting and candidate filing procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

• Absentee/mail-in voting: The absentee ballot application used in the general election included COVID-19 specific reasons for requesting an absentee ballot.
• Candidate filing procedures: The candidate qualifying deadline was extended to July 24, 2020. The deadline by which a ballot-qualified party must notify the state of its presidential nominee was extended from August 18, 2020, to August 25, 2020.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Candidates and election results

Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. Senate Louisiana

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. Senate Louisiana on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bill Cassidy (R)	59.3	1,228,908
		Adrian Perkins (D)	19.0	394,049
		Derrick Edwards (D)	11.1	229,814
		Antoine Pierce (D)	2.7	55,710
		Dustin Murphy (R)	1.9	38,383
		David Drew Knight (D)	1.8	36,962
		Beryl Billiot (Independent)	0.8	17,362
		John Paul Bourgeois (Independent)	0.8	16,518
		Peter Wenstrup (D)	0.7	14,454
		Aaron Sigler (L)	0.5	11,321
		M.V. Mendoza (Independent)	0.4	7,811
	Submit photo	Melinda Mary Price (Independent)	0.4	7,680
		Jamar Myers-Montgomery (Independent)	0.3	5,804
		Reno Jean Daret III (Independent)	0.2	3,954
		Xan John (Independent)	0.1	2,813

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,071,543
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Greg Fitch (Independent)
• Dartanyon Williams (D)

Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Louisiana in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Louisiana, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2020
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Signature formula	Filing fee	Filing fee formula	Filing deadline	Source
Louisiana	U.S. Senate	All parties	N/A	N/A	$900.00	Fixed number	7/24/2020	Source
Louisiana	U.S. Senate	Unaffiliated	N/A	N/A	$900.00	Fixed number	7/24/2020	Source

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election. It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Bill Cassidy	Republican Party	$11,472,971	$10,727,747	$1,637,677	As of December 31, 2020
Derrick Edwards	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
David Drew Knight	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Adrian Perkins	Democratic Party	$2,806,583	$2,651,684	$154,899	As of December 31, 2020
Antoine Pierce	Democratic Party	$100,627	$54,892	$-22,574	As of December 31, 2020
Peter Wenstrup	Democratic Party	$160,539	$148,832	$-621	As of December 31, 2020
Dustin Murphy	Republican Party	$17,368	$13,297	$4,051	As of November 5, 2020
Aaron Sigler	Libertarian Party	$3,298	$2,647	$651	As of October 13, 2020
Beryl Billiot	Independent	$6,375	$6,375	$0	As of December 31, 2020
John Paul Bourgeois	Independent	$3,500	$3,400	$100	As of September 30, 2020
Reno Jean Daret III	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Xan John	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
M.V. Mendoza	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Jamar Myers-Montgomery	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Melinda Mary Price	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in Louisiana, 2020
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 3, 2020	October 27, 2020	October 20, 2020	October 13, 2020
The Cook Political Report	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Election history

2016

General election

U.S. Senate, Louisiana General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John Kennedy	60.7%	536,191
	Democratic	Foster Campbell	39.3%	347,816
Total Votes				884,007
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State

Primary election

U.S. Senate, Louisiana Primary Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John Kennedy	25%	482,591
	Democratic	Foster Campbell	17.5%	337,833
	Republican	Charles Boustany	15.4%	298,008
	Democratic	Caroline Fayard	12.5%	240,917
	Republican	John Fleming	10.6%	204,026
	Republican	Rob Maness	4.7%	90,856
	Republican	David Duke	3%	58,606
	Democratic	Derrick Edwards	2.7%	51,774
	Democratic	Gary Landrieu	2.4%	45,587
	Republican	Donald Crawford	1.3%	25,523
	Republican	Joseph Cao	1.1%	21,019
	Independent	Beryl Billiot	1%	19,352
	Libertarian	Thomas Clements	0.6%	11,370
	Independent	Troy Hebert	0.5%	9,503
	Democratic	Josh Pellerin	0.4%	7,395
	Democratic	Peter Williams	0.4%	6,855
	Democratic	Vinny Mendoza	0.3%	4,927
	Independent	Kaitlin Marone	0.2%	4,108
	Libertarian	Le Roy Gillam	0.2%	4,067
	Republican	Charles Marsala	0.2%	3,684
	Independent	Arden Wells	0.1%	1,483
	Independent	Bob Lang	0.1%	1,424
	Independent	Gregory Taylor	0.1%	1,151
Total Votes				1,932,059
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State

2014

General election

U.S. Senate, Louisiana General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mary Landrieu Incumbent	44.1%	561,210
	Republican	Bill Cassidy	55.9%	712,379
Total Votes				1,273,589
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State

Primary election

U.S. Senate, Louisiana Primary Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mary Landrieu Incumbent	42.1%	619,402
	Democratic	Wayne Ables	0.8%	11,323
	Democratic	Vallian Senegal	0.3%	3,831
	Democratic	William Waymire Jr.	0.3%	4,673
	Republican	Bill Cassidy	41%	603,084
	Republican	Rob Maness	13.8%	202,556
	Republican	Thomas Clements	1%	14,173
	Libertarian	Brannon Lee McMorris	0.9%	13,034
Total Votes				1,472,076
Source: Mary Landrieu and Bill Cassidy headed to a runoff election on December 6, 2014. Louisiana Secretary of State

2010

On November 2, 2010, Vitter (R) won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Charlie Melancon (D), Michael Karlton Brown (I), R. A. "Skip" Galan (I), Milton Gordon (I), Sam Houston Melton, Jr. (I), Randall Todd Hayes (L), William R. McShan (Reform), Michael Lane "Mike" Spears (I), Ernest D. Woolon (I), William Robert "Bob" Lang, Jr. (I) and Thomas G. "Tommy" LaFarge (I) in the primary election.

Louisiana elections use the Louisiana majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

U.S. Senate, Louisiana Primary Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	David Vitter Incumbent	56.6%	715,415
	Democratic	Charlie Melancon	37.7%	476,572
	Independent	Michael Karlton Brown	0.8%	9,973
	Independent	R. A. "Skip" Galan	0.6%	7,474
	Independent	Milton Gordon	0.4%	4,810
	Independent	Sam Houston Melton, Jr.	0.3%	3,780
	Libertarian	Randall Todd Hayes	1.1%	13,957
	Reform	William R. McShan	0.5%	5,879
	Independent	Michael Lane "Mike" Spears	0.7%	9,190
	Independent	Ernest D. Woolon	0.6%	8,167
	Independent	William Robert "Bob" Lang, Jr.	0.5%	5,734
	Independent	Thomas G. "Tommy" LaFarge	0.3%	4,043
Total Votes				1,264,994

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana, 2020
• United States Senate elections, 2020

Footnotes

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Louisiana's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Bill Cassidy (R)

John Kennedy (R)

Representatives

District 1

Steve Scalise (R)

District 2

Troy Carter (D)

District 3

Clay Higgins (R)

District 4

Mike Johnson (R)

District 5

Julia Letlow (R)

District 6

Cleo Fields (D)

Republican Party (6)

Democratic Party (2)