Landry leaves door open to running for Rep. Cassidy’s seat in Louisiana

{mosads}”Look, I’ve had an opportunity to hear from people from around the state on a lot of different issues and a lot of different races. I’m not ruling anything out. Whether I’d be interested in a specific race, I don’t know,” he told The Hill, when asked whether he’s interested in running for Cassidy’s seat.

Cassidy is considered by some to be less conservative than other members of the Louisiana delegation, which could leave him open to a primary challenge in his pursuit of the seat. Landry was elected with strong Tea-Party backing.

Even if he decides not to run, he indicated he’ll be active in the district one way or another with his new super PAC, Restore Our Republic, which was formed to support conservative House candidates.

“Congressman Cassidy’s departure from his seat in a very Republican district gives us reason to take a good hard look at that,” he said.

He also noted seats in Georgia as another possible opportunity for his super PAC, where at least two GOP lawmakers, Reps. Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey, are planning to run for retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ (R-Ga.) seat.

Landry has been considering a bid for Senate, but his formation of the PAC seemed to indicate he’s put his interest in Landrieu’s seat on the back-burner.

But he insisted on Wednesday, two days after he went public with his super PAC plans, that he hasn’t ruled anything out, and noted that before the ran for the House, he repeatedly said he wouldn’t do it, until he changed his mind.

Landry wouldn’t offer a timetable for his decision, however.

Regardless of whether he runs, however, he’ll engage in the 2014 cycle through his super PAC, which he said he has been considering launching since December.

“It’s something I thought was both needed and would give me an opportunity to stay involved in the process,” he said.

The super PAC will play in primaries in House races to support the most conservative candidate, independent of electability. Landry said the group is also interested in protecting conservative incumbents.

Landry said that his two years in the House have made him better-suited than some other groups, because he understands “what it takes to stand on [conservative] principles,” rather than just tout a conservative voting record.

“No one can hoodwink me,” he said.

Though he doesn’t have a fundraising goal set for the PAC yet, Landry was a strong fundraiser when he was in the House, raising more than $2.3 million for his reelection fight in 2012.

He lost that race to Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), whom he challenged after redistricting placed them in the same district.

Many observers saw Landry’s loss as a repudiation of his scorched-earth strategy in the House, and evidence that the Tea Party’s influence in Louisiana had waned. But Landry argued that his defeat had more to do with redistricting, which split his district four ways and left him running for reelection in a a largely new area.

“That is not a bellwether towards the belief or the electability of candidates in and out of Louisiana,” he said.