By Alex Knott, CQ Staff

Election: Defeated Rep. Don Cazayoux , D

Residence: Baton Rouge

Born: Sept. 28, 1957; Highland Park, Ill.

Religion: Christian

Family: Wife, Laura Layden Cassidy; three children

Education: Louisiana State U., B.S. 1979 (biochemistry), M.D. 1983

Career: Physician

Political highlights: La. Senate, 2006-present

Cassidy says he hopes to work in Congress to help Americans get through the current economic crisis, which he says is a situation of the “same magnitude as Louisiana faced post-Hurricane Katrina.” Among his priorities will be health care and energy.

As a physician, Cassidy says, he has learned that any solution to the health care crisis must address access, cost and quality. He advocates portable insurance, more competition among insurers and the establishment of insurance pools to expand choices for consumers.

On energy, he calls for tax incentives for the production of hydrogen-fueled cars and alternative energy, including solar and wind technology.

Cassidy, representing a district centered in Baton Rouge, says he would like to serve on committees involving infrastructure, environment, energy and commerce, which mirror his legislative priorities as a state lawmaker. In the Louisiana Senate he wrote laws on issues including health care, retirement, taxes and education.

Cassidy first decided to run in a special election for the state Senate after Louisiana was devastated by Katrina. In the days after the storm, he led a group of volunteers to convert an abandoned building into a makeshift field hospital where several hundred evacuees were treated.