Following a clearing of the Republican field leading up to Louisiana’s filing deadline this month, state Sen. Bill Cassidy, on whose shoulders rests the responsibility of winning back the 6th district for Republicans this fall, held a meet and greet at the Capitol Hill Club Tuesday evening.

Cassidy won a special election in 2006 to replace now-Secretary of State Jay Dardenne (R) in his state Senate district. He was re-elected in 2007 and contemplated running in this spring’s House special election but eventually declined. In that race, Democrat Don Cazayoux beat the controversial Republican nominee, Woody Jenkins, in what was the second of three key special election victories for House Democrats this spring.

In June, Cassidy was quickly backed by the Republican establishment after announcing he would run in the 6th district in November. Now he is busy fundraising and reported a respectable $214,000 raised in an abbreviated second quarter.

Cassidy will not face a challenge in the GOP primary after Jenkins and the woman he beat in the Republican primary in April decided not to run again. During the general election, Cazayoux will have to fight off both Cassidy and state Rep. Michael Jackson, a Democrat who lost to Cazayoux in the special election primary but decided to file for the general election as an Independent.