In a significant development in Louisiana’s Senate Republican primary, CBS News projects that Representative Julia Letlow and Louisiana state Treasurer John Fleming have advanced to a runoff, thereby eliminating incumbent GOP Senator Bill Cassidy from the race.
Senator Cassidy, 68, had been a prominent figure in the GOP but had recently found himself at odds with sections of his party. Notably, he was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict former President Donald Trump during his impeachment trial following the infamous Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in 2021. Despite the senator’s emphasis on his cooperation with the Trump administration in recent years, his vote during the impeachment trial proved to be a sticking point.
To add to Cassidy’s woes, former President Trump endorsed his opponent, Julia Letlow, in January, encouraging her to challenge Cassidy for the Louisiana Senate seat. Trump’s endorsement was a significant boost for Letlow, who had been mounting a strong campaign against Cassidy, whom she accused of disloyalty to the GOP.
Trump took to Truth Social, the social media platform he launched after his ban from Twitter and Facebook, late Saturday night to congratulate Letlow on her victory. He praised her for running “a fantastic race, beating an Incumbent Senator by Record Setting Numbers.”
“Letlow is a fantastic person and, after taking care of some additional business, will make a brilliant Senator for the Great People of Louisiana, a State that I love, helped make prosperous with my Energy Policies and everything else,” Trump wrote in his congratulatory post.
In a follow-up post, the former president took aim at Cassidy, accusing him of “falsely using his ‘relationship’ with me during his political career, and winning Elections because of it”. He also lambasted Cassidy for voting to impeach him on “preposterous charges that were fake then, and now, are criminally insane!”
Julia Letlow, 45, has been making waves in Louisiana politics. She became the first Republican woman elected to represent the state in Congress in 2021, securing a seat in a special election for Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District. This election was held after the death of her husband, who tragically died in 2020 from complications related to COVID-19 before he could be sworn into office.
Throughout her campaign, Letlow had been a vocal critic of Cassidy, accusing him of lacking loyalty to the GOP. She asserted that Louisiana “shouldn’t have to wonder how our senator will vote when the pressure’s on,” a clear reference to Cassidy’s controversial vote during Trump’s impeachment trial.
Letlow’s campaign was not just focused on criticizing Cassidy. She also proudly touted her endorsement from Trump, a significant badge of honor in the Republican party. Meanwhile, Fleming, who had worked in the first Trump administration and represented Louisiana in the U.S. House, positioned himself as “the only conservative MAGA Republican” in the race.
Cassidy’s relationship with the Trump administration had been strained, not just because of his impeachment vote, but also due to his disagreements with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the HHS Secretary. Cassidy, a medical doctor, had disagreed with Kennedy on multiple occasions, criticizing changes to the hepatitis B vaccine schedule for infants and calling for the postponement of key vaccine advisory panel meetings.
These disagreements had led Letlow to accuse Cassidy of not being sufficiently conservative. Cassidy, in turn, had tried to paint Letlow as not conservative enough, pointing to comments she had made in 2020 supporting DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs in education. Fleming had also accused Letlow of supporting DEI.
The primary contest in Louisiana is indicative of the ongoing influence of Trump in the Republican party, despite him being in the latter half of his final term. Earlier this month, Trump’s efforts to push out Republicans from the state Senate in Indiana who defied his redistricting efforts were largely successful.
Despite the internal party conflicts, the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), had thrown its weight behind Cassidy, who was seeking a third term in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader John Thune had even publicly praised Cassidy, stating that “Bill Cassidy has been a terrific senator for Louisiana.”
“Tim Scott and I at the NRSC, our job is to do what we can to support incumbents,” Thune said. “But obviously the voters of Louisiana are going to make that decision.”
On the Democratic side, Jamie Davis, a third-generation farmer, secured the party’s nomination, as per CBS News’ projections. Davis defeated Nick Albares, a former policy advisor to Gov. John Bel Edwards, and Navy veteran Gary Crockett. However, Louisiana is a predominantly red state, where Trump won 60% of the vote in 2024.
The state last elected a Democrat to the Senate in 2008, meaning that the winner of the GOP primary is likely to secure the Senate seat in the general election in November. Amidst this political churn, Louisiana’s Republican Governor, Jeff Landry, suspended the state’s House primaries in the wake of a Supreme Court decision to strike down the state’s congressional map earlier this month. However, other races, including the Senate primaries, were allowed to proceed as planned.
