The National Rifle Association has spent millions in support of Louisiana’s Republican congressional delegation.
Campaign finance data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics show Louisiana’s two senators benefit the most.
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy ranks 10th in NRA funding compared to all members of Congress, with more than $2.8 million in NRA funds spent to benefit his campaigns.
Cassidy has received almost half a million in the NRA’s financial support, either through direct contributions or through spending in support of his candidacy. But most of the financial support — more than $2.4 million — was money spent against Cassidy’s opponents, like during his 2014 campaign to unseat former Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.
U.S. Sen. John Kennedy has benefit from more than $200,000 in NRA financing during his career, ranking him 29th in NRA support throughout Congress. The rest of Louisiana’s Republican delegation has also benefit from the NRA in some way, although in lesser amounts.
Check out the figures here.
The NRA has also paid nine lobbyists in Louisiana at least since 2009, according to the Louisiana Ethics Administration’s lobbying portal.
Two of those lobbyists were active during the 2012 legislative session, when lawmakers placed a Constitutional amendment on the ballot to strengthen gun protections. Louisianans approved the measure with about 74 percent of the vote, making it more difficult for the state to regulate gun ownership.
Records show one of those NRA representatives spent money lobbying the amendment’s author, Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, and two of its co-authors, Rep. Chris Broadwater, R-Hammond, and former Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Bossier City.
