Rob Maness claims GOP is coercing his supporters into backing Bill Cassidy

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Senate candidate Rob Maness' campaign is accusing Louisiana Republican Party chairman Roger Villere of coercing up-and-coming members of the party by threatening to withhold support if they didn't switch and back the party's preferred candidate, Rep. Bill Cassidy.

They point to emails and Facebook messages from a former Maness campaign manager and a candidate in North Louisiana to support their case.

"It's obvious that we're seeing a concerted and coordinated effort to smear Rob Maness," said Michael Byrne, Maness' campaign manager. "Roger Villere and the LAGOP are doing the bidding of the D.C. Republican-establishment and using Chicago-style tactics to coerce young, enthusiastic, conservatives to say things that they have privately admitted they don't really believe."

Villere denied the claim, saying, "Bill Cassidy has my support and that of thousands of other Louisianians because he is the only candidate who can defeat Mary Landrieu and return control of the Senate to Republicans. Any suggestion of another motive is nonsense."

Tensions between Maness supporters and the Republican Party have been building throughout the election cycle. Those backing the long-shot Republican have long been upset with the state party for going all-in on Cassidy without allowing for Maness to have an equal shot at earning the party's support.

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The Maness campaign claims that the LAGOP leaned on former Maness campaign manager John Kerry and Caddo Parish School Board candidate Parker Ward to switch their support. Ward recently served as the chairman of the Louisiana Republican Liberty Caucus, which has endorsed Maness.

The Maness campaign said Ward was pressured into switching from Maness to Cassidy so the Republican Party would support his candidacy for school board.

Ward sent a Facebook message to Maness supporter Shawn Cronan on Oct. 10 that read:

"Shawn, as you know I am running for School Board. The Caddo Executive Committee was going to support me, I need their support, but they heard I was supporting Rob. To take my seat away from a very pro common core Republican, I have to publiclly [sic] support Cassidy. I will still be voting for Rob on Nov. 4th.

Ward denied he authored the Facebook message. He said his account wasn't hacked but he believes someone altered messages to make it look like they came from him. He denies being coerced into voting for Cassidy and said he switched his support because defeating Landrieu is most important.

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