Senate Democrats abandon ads in contested Louisiana

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats’ campaign committee on Thursday began canceling plans for television ads in Louisiana’s major markets to help Sen. Mary Landrieu’s runoff campaign against Republican Bill Cassidy, making her re-election bid an even steeper challenge.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee initially had reserved $1.8 million in TV advertising for after Tuesday’s first round of voting. On Thursday, the DSCC dumped the bookings in the state’s big cities.

A spokesman for the debt-laden committee said officials still back Landrieu, who has twice before prevailed during runoff elections, and would keep an eye on the race.

Tuesday’s midterm elections swept Republicans into a Senate majority for the first time since 2006. That takes away Landrieu’s chairmanship of the vaunted energy committee and undermines her main argument for re-election – clout – as she and Cassidy head into a new round of campaigning ahead of the Dec. 6 runoff.