A political action committee aligned with U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again movement recorded nearly $117,000 in targeted spending over the first days of May aimed at Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, according to campaign finance filings.
Four Federal Election Commission filings indicate the MAHA PAC disbursed $116,878.20 between May 2 and May 5. The payments covered digital advertising, mailers and text message campaigns and were divided between activity opposing Cassidy and activity supporting Representative Julia Letlow of Louisiana, who is challenging Cassidy in the May 16 Republican primary.
The surge of advertising and outreach is part of a broader campaign to unseat one of Kennedy's most vocal critics in Congress. Cassidy, a physician who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, has been openly skeptical of Kennedy's effort to overhaul U.S. vaccine policy. On the committee he formed a bloc with Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska that repeatedly slowed Kennedy's agenda.
The most recent round of MAHA PAC spending followed President Donald Trump's April 30 withdrawal of surgeon general nominee Casey Means and his selection of radiologist and Fox News contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier as his third nominee for the post. Trump publicly accused Cassidy of blocking the Means nomination and questioned the senator's loyalty.
According to a Reuters review of Federal Election Commission records, the latest filings bring MAHA PAC's total expenditures in the Louisiana contest to more than $391,000 since mid-March. Over 70% of that total - more than $276,000 - has been directed toward opposing Cassidy, while nearly $115,000 has been spent in support of Letlow.
MAHA PAC President Tony Lyons has pledged to spend $1 million to help defeat Cassidy. With the primary nine days away at the time of the filings, the PAC had deployed roughly 39% of that pledge.
Officials in Cassidy's office did not respond to a request for comment on the PAC's activity.
Cassidy's standing in Republican circles is further complicated by a strained relationship with President Trump that dates to Cassidy's vote to convict the president at his 2021 impeachment trial after the January 6 Capitol attack. Trump endorsed Letlow before she had publicly announced her decision to run.
In addition to Letlow, Cassidy faces a primary challenge from former U.S. Representative John Fleming. An Emerson College survey released the prior week showed Fleming narrowly leading with 28% support, Letlow at 27% and Cassidy at 21%.
Cassidy has invested heavily in his own campaign advertising, with $5.1 million spent on ads according to AdImpact. His supporting super PAC, the Louisiana Freedom Fund, has so far spent $10 million on advertisements in the contest.
The recent MAHA PAC expenditures represent a concentrated push in the closing days before the primary and reflect the interplay between high-profile federal health policy debate and a competitive Senate primary in Louisiana.