Louisiana Republicans head to the polls Saturday in a GOP Senate runoff that will test President Donald Trump’s clout in his final two years in the White House.
Rep. Julia Letlow, Trump’s handpicked candidate, faces state Treasurer John Fleming for the seat left open after Trump-targeted Sen. Bill Cassidy lost his reelection bid in the May 16 primary. Letlow grabbed 45% of the vote to Fleming’s 28%, with Cassidy finishing a distant third at just under 25%.
Cassidy became the first elected Republican senator to lose renomination since 2012 — five years after he voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial.
“IT’S NICE TO SEE THAT HIS POLITICAL CAREER IS OVER!” — TRUMP ON CASSIDY’S DEFEAT
Trump celebrated Cassidy’s loss on social media. Cassidy fired back in his concession speech, taking a jab at the president: “When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. But you don’t pout, you don’t whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen… You don’t manufacture some excuse.”
Letlow, who is also backed by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a top Trump ally, won her congressional seat in 2021 after her husband Luke Letlow died six days after being sworn into the U.S. House following his 2020 election victory. She has highlighted Trump’s support throughout her Senate campaign.
Fleming, who spent eight years in Congress before serving as a White House deputy chief of staff during Trump’s first term, has argued he’s the most conservative candidate in the race.
A Letlow victory Saturday would mark another win for Trump as he works to fill Congress with loyal lawmakers. But a Fleming win would be Trump’s third high-profile endorsement setback this spring.
The president’s endorsement power has been on full display in recent GOP primaries, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in Indiana, Kentucky, Texas, and the Louisiana primary.
But Trump’s streak was snapped a few weeks ago when his last-minute endorsement of Rep. Randy Feenstra in Iowa’s gubernatorial race wasn’t enough to propel the three-term congressman to victory. Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman backed by the political wings of MAHA — the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA.
Trump rebounded three weeks ago in South Carolina, where Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Pam Evette finished first in the GOP gubernatorial primary and Sen. Lindsey Graham won a majority in the Republican Senate primary, avoiding a runoff.
Two weeks ago, Trump-backed candidates won two of three top races in Georgia and Alabama, with the one setback coming against a billionaire businessman who shelled out over $100 million of his own money.
Rep. Barry Moore, a House Freedom Caucus member endorsed by Trump, comfortably defeated rival Jared Hudson in Alabama’s GOP Senate runoff. In Georgia’s Republican Senate runoff, an 11th-hour Trump endorsement helped boost Rep. Mike Collins to victory over former college football coach Derek Dooley, who was backed by Gov. Brian Kemp.
But in Georgia’s GOP gubernatorial runoff, Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones was defeated by billionaire businessman Rick Jackson, who ran as an outsider.
The GOP nominee in Louisiana will be the clear frontrunner in the midterm election against either farmer Jamie Davis or Navy veteran Gary Crockett, who are facing off in the Democratic Senate runoff.
The charges remain allegations. The case has not been proven in court.
