Trump-backed Julia Letlow wins Louisiana GOP Senate runoff

Julia Letlow defeated John Fleming in Louisiana’s Republican Senate runoff, finishing the job after a May 16 primary that forced incumbent Bill Cassidy out of the race. Cassidy, who voted to convict Donald Trump in the former president’s 2021 impeachment trial, finished third with about 24 percent, while Letlow led the primary with about 45 percent and Fleming followed with about 28 percent.

The result gave Trump the enforcement victory he wanted inside Louisiana Republicans. Cassidy’s elimination was widely treated as punishment for breaking with Trump, and the runoff became a direct test of whether the former president could dictate the party’s nominee in a race for a U.S. Senate seat. It also marked a rare blow to an incumbent: Cassidy became the first sitting senator to lose a primary since 2012.

Letlow’s margin in the runoff was decisive. Early AP reporting showed her ahead 57 percent to 43 percent with more than 95 percent of votes counted, and later incomplete official results put her at about 67 percent to 33 percent over Fleming. The contest had been cast as a choice between a Trump-backed candidate and a more traditional conservative lane, but the numbers showed which side had the stronger grip on Louisiana Republicans.

Letlow now advances to face Democrat Jamie Davis in the general election. Davis won the Democratic runoff over Navy veteran Gary Crockett, setting up a fall contest for Cassidy’s seat while Louisiana also settled other runoff races and local ballot items on June 27. For Trump, the outcome extends beyond one state race: it shows how primaries and runoffs can function as loyalty tests, narrowing the field to candidates who openly align with his political demands.

The race also carries a personal political arc for Letlow. She first entered Congress in 2021 after winning the seat her husband, Luke Letlow, had won before he died of COVID-19 complications. Her Senate win keeps that family’s place in Louisiana politics alive and puts her on track to become the first Republican woman to represent Louisiana in the Senate. For Cassidy, the defeat closed a long struggle against a president he had crossed, and for Louisiana Republicans it showed how fully Trump has come to define the boundaries of internal dissent.