Letlow Launches Trump‑Backed Louisiana Senate Challenge to Cassidy

MS Now’s campaign round-up reports that Republican Rep. Julia Letlow has formally launched a U.S. Senate campaign in Louisiana with Donald Trump’s support, setting up a 2026 GOP primary fight against incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy, who says he intends to stay in the race and "win re-election" even as some Republican colleagues doubt his odds. In Kentucky, Senate hopeful Nate Morris received a "major boost" with a $10 million donation from an Elon Musk–aligned super PAC as he battles Rep. Andy Barr and former Attorney General Daniel Cameron for the GOP nomination to succeed Mitch McConnell. The piece also notes that retired sportscaster Michele Tafoya has joined Minnesota’s crowded Republican Senate primary despite having no government experience beyond co-chairing Kendall Qualls’ failed 2022 gubernatorial campaign. On the House side, a new map drawn by the Maryland Redistricting Commission would give Democrats effective control of all eight congressional districts, though it faces resistance from Democratic state Senate President Bill Ferguson, and former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan has ruled out another 2026 run for any office. Democrats, meanwhile, picked up yet another Virginia state House seat in a special election, with Garrett McGuire set to replace Del. Mark Sickles as Sickles joins Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s administration—one more data point in a string of down-ballot wins that party operatives on social media are watching as a barometer for November.