Overview
- Louisiana’s Republican Senate primary, held Saturday, ended with Rep. Julia Letlow leading with about 45% and Treasurer John Fleming near 28%, while Sen. Bill Cassidy finished third at roughly 25% and failed to make the runoff.
- Trump endorsed Letlow in January and then celebrated Cassidy’s loss on Truth Social, framing it as payback for Cassidy’s 2021 vote to convict him in the impeachment trial.
- Letlow and Fleming will meet in a June 27 runoff to decide the GOP nominee in a state that typically elects Republicans to the Senate, making the contest the likely decider of the seat.
- This election was the first under Louisiana’s new party primaries after decades of a statewide “jungle primary,” and House primaries were delayed following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that forced the state to redraw its congressional map.
- Outlets cast the outcome as part of a broader pattern of Trump flexing endorsement power in GOP primaries, pointing to recent wins against Indiana state senators and an immediate next test on Tuesday in Kentucky, where Trump-backed Ed Gallrein challenges Rep. Thomas Massie.