BATON ROUGE — Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring Louisiana lawmakers to redraw congressional boundaries, candidates in the state's 6th Congressional District have faced a rare challenge: running campaign operations and raising funds twice in a single election cycle.

According to data from federal campaign records, candidates running for statewide congressional seats have raised a record total of $74 million so far this election cycle. Nonprofit political tracking site "Open Secrets" reports that 80% of those funds originated from outside Louisiana.

Political analysts note that campaign money will play a pivotal role as the race reaches its final stretch. LSU Professor Robert Hogan said the high volume of incoming capital highlights which candidates are positioned to lead on Election Day.

"You've got multiple candidates running, beating the bushes to get funding to bring in for their campaign," Hogan said.

Pollster John Couvillion says analyzing a candidate's cash on hand is the so-called gold standard for ranking performance, as it determines how much a campaign can deploy in the critical final weeks.

According to the most recent Federal Election Reporting data from July 18, Republican Blake Miguez leads with $2,032,592.21 on hand, followed by Republican Rick Edmonds with $314,940.13, and Democratic Party-endorsed candidate Lindsay "Rubia" Garcia with $36,347.87.

Couvillion added that the surge in out-of-state donations reflects a broader trend in national politics.

“House and Senate races are becoming a lot more nationalized,” Couvilion said. “Meaning, even if you're having people who don't have any knowledge of peeling crawfish. Nevertheless, they see an open congressional race, and they want to make their opinions known via their contributions.”

Early voting begins Oct. 20, leading up to Election Day on Nov. 3.