This will make for some interesting politics, though few will be surprised by the announcement. Blake Miguez, the state senator from New Iberia who’s become one of the more articulate and charismatic conservatives in the state legislature, has been bandied about as a candidate for the U.S. Senate next year, and now the bandying can stop. It’s official.

State Senator Blake Miguez announced his candidacy for the United States Senate, launching a campaign to bring bold, America First leadership for Louisiana families — and to replace Senator Bill Cassidy, whom Miguez says “abandoned us and betrayed our state, our President, and our principles.”

“I’m running because the American Dream is worth fighting for — for our children, our grandchildren, and every family still chasing it,” Miguez said. “I won’t bend, I won’t break, and I’ll never stop fighting to put America first.”

A 7th-generation Louisianian, Miguez grew up in Loreauville and now manages his family’s oil and gas services business in New Iberia. He’s a world champion sharpshooter, a former contestant on the show Top Shot, and a father raising his children with his wife Ashley, a special education teacher. First elected to the State House and later to the State Senate in 2023, Miguez has built a reputation as one of Louisiana’s fiercest conservative fighters.

“Bill Cassidy voted to impeach President Trump. If Bill Cassidy and the Democrats had their way, President Trump wouldn’t have been eligible to win in 2024. Now he’s campaigning like a Trump ally. Louisiana voters won’t be deceived again,” Miguez said.

“Cassidy had his shot, and he missed. I won’t. We’re done being fooled by election-season Republicans and DC phonies. Louisiana wants to put America First, fight alongside President Trump, and deserves to be represented with backbone – not betrayal,” said Miguez.

You can see more on Blake’s announcement here.

What does this do to the race? Well, in the short term you can probably expect a war between Miguez and State Treasurer John Fleming over which one of them is going to carry the Freedom Caucus/America First conservative standard. Fleming has a head start and better name ID as a current statewide elected official, while Miguez is younger and maybe a little more exciting (Fleming is going to be 75 on Election Day next year, which is a little on the old side).

And of course it’s still pretty likely that Julia Letlow and/or Eric Skrmetta could get in, which would make for a free-for-all of a race.

But the Fleming-Miguez battle might well be fought over who can deliver the most brutal indictment of Cassidy as a RINO establishment type, which is a narrative that a large share of the Republican vote in the state very much agrees with.

This is why Cassidy’s allies in the Senate were trying to scrub the runoff in party primaries. That free-for-all can be had among the conservatives now, and then in the runoff there will be a full vetting of Cassidy’s performance before a general election contest with a Democrat who might be John Bel Edwards.

But that’s a long way off.

What we know now is the field is growing, and the race is getting interesting.