Who is Jamie Davis and what is Davis running on in the 2026 Louisiana Senate race?

Jamie Davis is the Democratic candidate for Louisiana U.S. Senate. Soybean farmer from Tensas Parish and former parish police juror (his only prior office); won the Democratic runoff with about 80%. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

The race

• The seat: Open seat (incumbent Bill Cassidy lost the May 2026 GOP closed primary). ELECTION SYSTEM: in 2026 Louisiana held its first closed party primaries for Congress since 2010 (May 16, 2026; registered party members only, unaffiliated voters could pick one party’s primary), with a party runoff on June 27, 2026 when no one passed 50%. This replaced the old jungle primary. The general election is Nov 3, 2026 like other states.
• Polling: Letlow 48, Davis 44 (Hart Research Associates, Sept 17 to 19, 2026); earlier PPP July 21 to 22: Letlow 41, Davis 37, 22% undecided.

Why Davis is behind

• Louisiana is strongly Republican: Trump won it by about 29 points in 2024, and no Democrat has won a Senate race there since 2008.
• Letlow has the endorsements of Trump and Gov. Jeff Landry and raised about $6M vs Davis’s roughly $2M.
• Turnout gap in the June runoffs: 316,000+ GOP votes vs about 196,000 Democratic votes.
• Polls are closer than the state’s lean. Letlow faces questions over buying Meta stock after signing an NDA about Meta’s Richland Parish data center, and Trump’s approval is low.

What Davis is running on

• Cost of living. Makes affordability his central theme, citing fuel and diesel costs that have hurt farmers and families.
• Rural development. Focuses on rural jobs, failing schools, broadband gaps and struggling rural hospitals.
• Data centers/transparency. Wants to close the loophole that lets deals be done under NDAs, so residents have a say before deals are approved.
• Energy/environment. Opposes carbon capture projects in Louisiana.
• Education. Supports more funding for teachers and schools and higher standards to attract business.

In Davis’s own words

“People can’t afford to live. Every time a bomb drops on Iran, the price of fuel goes up.”

“What I’ve learned most about Louisiana is that people are hurting. Everybody is struggling.”

“The people should know what’s happening to their land, and they should have a say on what affects their lives before deals are approved.”

The other candidates

• Julia Letlow (R)

Every race

See every Senate and governor race on the ballot, with each candidate’s chance of winning: the 2026 midterms at a glance.