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U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy was defeated Saturday in Louisiana’s Republican Senate primary, marking a major political victory for President Donald Trump and the state’s pro-Trump GOP establishment after years of backlash over Cassidy’s impeachment vote against Trump.
Republican voters instead propelled Julia Letlow and John Fleming into a June 27 runoff election. Letlow led the field but failed to secure the outright majority needed to avoid a second round.
The winner of the Republican runoff will face the Democratic nominee in the Nov. 3 general election.
Cassidy’s defeat caps a yearslong political reckoning that began when he became one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack impeachment trial.
In his concession speech, Cassidy appeared to take an indirect swipe at Trump and his allies.
“Our country is not about one individual,” Cassidy told supporters. “When you participate in democracy, you don’t pout. You don’t whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen.”
Trump celebrated Cassidy’s defeat in a social media post Saturday night, accusing the senator of betraying him after benefiting politically from their past relationship.
“Bill Cassidy, after falsely using his ‘relationship’ with me during his political career, and winning Elections because of it, voted to impeach me,” Trump wrote.
Cassidy’s loss leaves only Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins in office among the Republicans who voted to convict Trump during the impeachment trial.
The election marked Louisiana’s first closed congressional party primary since 2010, following election changes championed by Gov. Jeff Landry. The revised system was widely viewed as damaging to Cassidy because it limited crossover voting from independents and Democrats that could have aided him under Louisiana’s former open “jungle primary” structure.
Despite spending nearly $10 million during the campaign, Cassidy struggled to overcome Trump’s influence in Louisiana politics.
Much of Cassidy’s campaign spending funded attack ads portraying Letlow as insufficiently conservative. But Letlow, boosted by endorsements from Trump and Landry, steadily consolidated support among Republican voters.
“This is not my seat, it’s the people’s seat,” Letlow said Saturday night. “Unfortunately, I believe [Cassidy] forgot that when he took that vote that he should not have, and Louisiana did not forget.”
Letlow also praised Trump as “the best president this country has ever had.”
A former university administrator with no prior elected experience before 2021, Letlow entered Congress after winning a special election to replace her late husband, Luke Letlow, who died from COVID-19 complications shortly before taking office.
Fleming, a physician and former congressman, secured the second runoff spot with a heavily self-funded campaign centered on hardline conservative messaging and his ties to Trump’s first administration. His campaign also focused heavily on opposition to carbon capture projects, an issue that has divided Louisiana Republicans.
In the Democratic primary, Jamie Davis nearly secured an outright victory but fell short of the required threshold. Gary Crockett narrowly edged Nick Albares for second place by fewer than 300 votes, setting up a Democratic runoff.
Democratic turnout appeared energized by recent Republican-backed redistricting efforts that could eliminate one of Louisiana’s minority-opportunity congressional districts.
Davis, a farmer from Tensas Parish, argued Republican actions in Baton Rouge had motivated Democratic voters.
“I believe if we don’t have the shenanigans in Baton Rouge, I think we win this tonight,” Davis said.
The race now heads into a runoff campaign likely to center on loyalty to Trump, conservative identity and the future direction of Louisiana Republicans.
