Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu is facing a runoff vote in Louisiana after the midterm election against Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy, who is favored to capture her seat, according to a new poll.
The CNN/ORC International poll indicates that out of the nine candidates running in November, Landrieu will win around 43 percent of the vote while Cassidy comes next with 40 percent.
But Louisiana election rules state that unless the winner receives 50 percent of the vote or more the two leading candidates will
take part in a runoff election in December.
And that’s where things get tricky for Landrieu because Cassidy is expected to receive more votes, 50 percent to 47 percent, in the runoff than his rival, the poll shows.
“Keep in mind that the electorate in December is probably going to be smaller and quite a bit different from those who turn out to vote in November," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said.
"Landrieu wins a majority in a two-way race among all registered voters, but we know that only a small fraction of them will come out for a runoff."
Republicans are hoping to capture at least six Senate seats from the Democrats during this election cycle, which would give them control of the chamber, and Louisiana is being viewed by the GOP as a probable pick-up.
In recent months, Landrieu has been trying to distance herself from President Barack Obama and his unpopular Obamacare and environmental policies while instead touting her role as chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee in helping the oil-rich state, according to CNN.
The poll was conducted for CNN by ORC International with 1,013 adult Americans from September 22-25, with a margin of error of plus or minus four points.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.