By Ahmed Aboulenein
WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) - A political action committee aligned with U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again movement spent nearly $117,000 this week targeting Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, campaign finance filings show.
The spending ramped up a months-long campaign to unseat one of Kennedy's most persistent critics in Congress, where the senator has led resistance to the health secretary's efforts to reshape vaccine policy.
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filings to the Federal Election Commission show the MAHA PAC disbursed $116,878.20 between May 2 and May 5 on digital ads, mailers and text campaigns split between opposing Cassidy and supporting Representative Julia Letlow of Louisiana, who is challenging Cassidy in the May 16 Republican primary.
The spending blitz followed President Donald Trump's April 30 withdrawal of surgeon general nominee Casey Means and his naming of radiologist and Fox News contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier as his third nominee for the post. Trump accused Cassidy of blocking the Means nomination and being disloyal.
The latest filings bring the PAC's total spending in the Louisiana race to more than $391,000 since mid-March, according to a Reuters review of FEC records. Over 70% of that total, more than $276,000, has gone toward opposing Cassidy, with the remaining amount of almost $115,000 supporting Letlow.
Cassidy, a physician who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, has been openly skeptical of Kennedy's bid to overhaul U.S. vaccine policy. He formed a bloc with senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska that repeatedly slowed Kennedy's agenda on the committee.
MAHA PAC President Tony Lyons has pledged to spend $1 million to help defeat him. With the primary nine days away, the PAC has deployed roughly 39% of that pledge.
Cassidy's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Cassidy has had a strained relationship with Trump since he voted to convict the president at his 2021 impeachment trial after the January 6 Capitol attack. Trump endorsed Letlow before she had announced her decision to run.
In addition to Letlow, Cassidy is being challenged in the primary by former U.S. Representative John Fleming. An Emerson College survey released last week showed Fleming narrowly leading with 28%, Letlow at 27% and Cassidy at 21%.
Cassidy has spent $5.1 million on ads, according to AdImpact. His super PAC, Louisiana Freedom Fund, has spent $10 million on ads so far.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
