March 28:
In a room full of energy-industry executives in Louisiana last week, Sen. Mary Landrieumade one thing abundantly clear: Her re-election campaign and her new job running the Senate energy committee are inextricably linked.
"One of the reasons I'm running again is to chair this committee, because I've—by God's grace—lasted long enough to do it," Ms. Landrieu, the new head of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources panel, told a crowd of more than 300 assembled in Lake Charles for the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association's annual meeting.
Out of a handful of vulnerable Senate Democrats up for re-election this year, Ms. Landrieu is considered one of the most at risk, and her race could be key to determining which party controls the Senate come November.
To bolster her position back home, Ms. Landrieu is using her position atop the committee to push energy issues, including those that put her at odds with many in her party and President Barack Obama. That means energy policy coming out of her panel will likely have a more pro-industry tinge in coming months, making Democratic divisions on these hot-button issues starker.
She supports construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a project that many Democrats oppose because of its potential climate impact. Ms. Landrieu is also pushing revenue-sharing legislation that directs more money generated from offshore energy production to coastal states like hers.
Oil and natural gas fill the veins of Louisiana's economy and culture. Second only to Texas in natural-gas production and refining capacity, the state is home to the Henry Hub, a place where more than a dozen major pipelines come together and that serves as the official delivery location for futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Ms. Landrieu's challenge, party strategists say, will be to wield the gavel in a way that shows she can help Louisiana and its energy industry while distancing herself from her party, which is viewed negatively by many of the independent and Republican voters Ms. Landrieu must win to keep her seat.
Don Briggs, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, which hosted her speech last week, said he supports her top GOP challenger, Rep. Bill Cassidy, in part because of Ms. Landrieu's support of the Affordable Care Act.
"The senator has voted along party lines on some very important votes," Mr. Briggs said in an interview. "It has not been an easy decision for me. I have supported Mary financially and personally for many years."
Former Sen. J. Bennett Johnston Jr. (D., La.), her predecessor who chaired the energy panel from 1987 to 1995, said she has support from prominent Republicans in the state. Her gavel will help get her votes, given Louisiana's dependence on energy, he said.
"I'm not predicting she's going to get a landslide, but I think she'll win comfortably," Mr. Johnston said in an interview. First elected to the Senate in 1996, Ms. Landrieu, 58 years old, has never won more than 52% of the vote. Mr. Cassidy, her challenger, is a physician who in the past has donated to Ms. Landrieu's campaign. He supports most of the same energy issues as Ms. Landrieu.
For her committee's first hearing, this past week, Ms. Landrieu focused on expanding natural-gas exports, now a top geopolitical issue in light of the Ukraine crisis. Three proposed export projects that the Obama administration has conditionally approved, and the only one with final approval, are located in Louisiana.
Republicans say her chairmanship won't be enough to overcome her party affiliation. Rob Collins, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, noted that the Senate's Democratic leader, Sen. Harry Reid (D., Nev.), participated in a recent all-night "talk-a-thon" in the Senate promoting action on climate change—a move opposed by Republicans and many in the energy industry.
Mr. Cassidy criticized Ms. Landrieu's support for Rhea Suh, Mr. Obama's nominee to oversee fish, wildlife and parks in the Interior Department. The oil and gas industry opposes the nomination, which Ms. Landrieu's committee approved along party lines on Thursday.
"Instead of standing with Louisiana families, Sen. Landrieu decided to support Senate Majority Leader Reid and President Obama's anti-energy agenda," Mr. Cassidy said Thursday.
In an interview after her hearing Tuesday, Ms. Landrieu dismissed Republicans' efforts to tie her to the White House and Ms. Suh.
"There is nothing new about that strategy," Ms. Landrieu said. "It hasn't worked before. It won't work this time."
Louisiana has what is called a "jungle primary," where candidates, regardless of party, compete against each other on Election Day. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election occurs in December. Recent polling shows Ms. Landrieu and Mr. Cassidy in a statistical dead heat. A big question is whether Ms. Landrieu can clear the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff that would draw national attention and, possibly, decide Senate control. In 2002, she won such a runoff.
Source: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304688104579465793126362538?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304688104579465793126362538.html%3F
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