Louisiana 2026 Election & Infrastructure Intelligence

# Louisiana 2026 Election and Infrastructure Overview ## Election structure Louisiana is using two different federal election systems in 2026. The U.S. Senate nominations were decided through closed party primaries and June 27 runoffs. U.S. House races were moved to the traditional fall open-primary system after congressional redistricting litigation. House candidates qualify August 5-7, appear together on November 3, and proceed to a December 12 runoff if nobody receives a majority. ## Statewide political context The Senate general-election nominees are Republican Julia Letlow and Democrat Jamie Davis. Letlow defeated John Fleming in the Republican runoff after incumbent Bill Cassidy failed to advance. The House field remains provisional until qualifying closes. ## Praevoium infrastructure stakes Louisiana has become one of the most consequential AI-infrastructure states in the country. Meta expanded its Richland Parish Hyperion campus to more than $50 billion and 5 GW of compute capacity. The project is tied to major generation, transmission, water, road, workforce, and tax-policy decisions. Governor Jeff Landry issued Executive Order JML 26-058 creating ratepayer and community-protection criteria for data-center and other large-load incentives. The framework expects projects to protect existing utility customers, support grid reliability, contribute to local tax bases, use natural resources responsibly, and deliver workforce and community benefits. The main unresolved issues are: - Whether new generation and transmission costs remain fully assigned to large-load customers - Whether projected ratepayer savings survive regulatory scrutiny - Water-use permitting and annual disclosure - Natural-gas dependence versus solar, storage, nuclear, and other generation - Public Service Commission oversight of utility contracts - Local tax incentives and long-term community benefits - Hurricane, flood, coastal, and industrial resilience - LNG export, petrochemical, port,

Candidate	Office	Posture	Confidence	Evidence summary
Julia Letlow		**Conditional**	Moderate	Conditional enable / No detailed direct data-center platform verified
Jamie Davis		**Unverified**	Low	Unknown / No verified direct position
Steve Scalise		**Enable**	Moderate	Enable / No current district-specific data-center position verified
Troy Carter		**Conditional**	Low	Conditional / No verified direct 2026 data-center platform
Clay Higgins		**Enable**	Low	Enable / No verified direct 2026 data-center platform
Mike Johnson		**Enable**	Moderate	Enable / No verified direct 2026 data-center platform
Blake Miguez		**Enable**	Moderate	Enable / No verified detailed data-center framework
Cleo Fields		**Conditional**	Low	Conditional / No verified direct 2026 data-center platform
John Atkins		**Unverified**	Low	Unknown / Direct large-load tariff position requires verification
James Green		**Unverified**	Low	Unknown / Direct large-load tariff position requires verification

Race	Status	Candidates	Impact	Key issue
U.S. Senate	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact

# Louisiana Race and Candidate Dossiers ## U.S. Senate ### Julia Letlow, Republican - Status: Republican nominee - Alignment: Trump-aligned conservative; expansion-oriented on energy and industrial development - Backing: Donald Trump, Jeff Landry, Steve Scalise, and a supportive super PAC reported to have spent more than $4 million - AI/data centers: No verified detailed personal framework found. Her party and state coalition strongly support Louisiana's AI-infrastructure expansion, subject to the Landry ratepayer framework. - Evidence confidence: Moderate for coalition alignment; limited for a direct candidate-specific data-center platform ### Jamie Davis, Democrat - Status: Democratic nominee - Alignment: Progressive-populist economic platform - Backing: Democratic primary electorate; detailed major-organization backing requires continuing review - AI/data centers: No verified detailed public position found - Evidence confidence: Low on AI/data-center classification ## U.S. House House candidate rosters are provisional until official qualifying closes August 7. ### LA-01 - Current member: Steve Scalise, Republican - Infrastructure exposure: Port of New Orleans region, petrochemicals, coastal protection, hurricane resilience, grid and natural-gas infrastructure - Candidate status: Scalise expected or announced; official 2026 field pending qualifying ### LA-02 - Current member: Troy Carter, Democrat - Infrastructure exposure: New Orleans, Mississippi River, ports, coastal restoration, drainage, flood protection, energy transition, tourism, and urban infrastructure - Candidate status: Carter expected or announced; official field pending qualifying ### LA-03 - Current member: Clay Higgins, Republican - Infrastructure exposure: LNG, petrochemicals, pipelines, ports, industrial power, coastal resilience, and southwest Louisiana hurricane recovery - Candidate status: official field pending qualifying ### LA-04 - Current member: Mike Johnson, Republican - Infrastructure exposure: Barksdale Air Force Base, defense, northwestern Louisiana manufacturing, pipelines, grid, and cybersecurity - Candidate status: official field pending qualifying ### LA-05 - Current member: Julia Letlow, Republican, running for Senate - Status: Open seat under the 2026 ballot - Infrastructure exposure: Richland Parish Meta Hyperion campus, 5 GW compute buildout, new generation and transmission, water, roads, workforce, agriculture, and tax incentives - Known candidate: Blake Miguez filed with the FEC for LA-05 and has raised substantial funds; final district choice and official qualification require verification - Candidate field: pending August 5-7 qualifying ### LA-06 - Current member: Cleo Fields, Democrat - Infrastructure exposure: Baton Rouge region, petrochemicals, Mississippi River industry, grid, water, state government, universities, and redistricting consequences - Candidate status: Fields and possible challengers require official post-qualifying verificatio