Trump-Endorsed US Rep. Letlow Wins La. Senate Primary

Trump-Endorsed U.S. Rep. Letlow Secures Louisiana Senate GOP Nomination

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Louisiana on Saturday, following an endorsement from President Donald Trump to succeed GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy.

Letlow, who received Trump’s endorsement, defeated state Treasurer John Fleming in the two-candidate runoff. The pair had finished ahead of Cassidy in the GOP primary held May 16.

Letlow stated her support for Trump in a contest in which Cassidy, who voted to convict the president on impeachment charges in 2021, had spent a year seeking to prevent Trump from backing a challenger. She has said she intends to align with Trump on advancing his policy priorities.

"I am so filled with gratitude for the greatest president this country has ever had, Donald J. Trump," Letlow told supporters at her election night watch party in Baton Rouge. "I am also so incredibly grateful for your endorsement."

Letlow’s victory is part of Trump’s 2026 effort to support Republican challengers against GOP officeholders who have differed with him. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and five Indiana state senators lost reelection bids last month to candidates endorsed by Trump.

Trump-backed candidates lost in two June GOP gubernatorial primaries: Rep. Randy Feenstra on June 2 in Iowa, defeated by businessperson Zach Lahn, and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones of Georgia on June 16, defeated by billionaire Rick Jackson. Both winners ran as outsiders against candidates viewed as establishment favorites.

Letlow is now the leading candidate to succeed Cassidy in a state Trump carried by 22 percentage points in 2024. If elected, she would become Louisiana’s first female Republican senator.

Her supporters cheered as she took the stage in Baton Rouge. One attendee reacted audibly minutes earlier after The Associated Press called the race for Letlow on television.

Letlow has served in the House since 2021. Her husband, Luke Letlow, died from COVID-19 complications after winning election to Congress in 2020; she won a special election to fill the seat.

Gov. Jeff Landry, whom Letlow also thanked, began advocating for her to Trump last year. Trump endorsed her in January, before she formally entered the race.

She received nearly 45 percent of the vote on May 16, compared with about 28 percent for Fleming and nearly 25 percent for Cassidy. Letlow and Fleming advanced to the runoff because no candidate secured a majority.

Some voters cited Trump’s endorsement as decisive. "Trump’s lady all the way," said Barbara Dufrene, 67, of Marrero. She said she knew little about Letlow but expected the president to address healthcare costs and social safety net programs. "I always vote whatever Trump wants."

Letlow’s performance on May 16, campaign spending, and endorsements from prominent Republicans positioned her strongly for the runoff. She also received support from Landry and U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

Fleming, a founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus during his time in Congress, later served in Trump’s first administration. He noted that he did not resign after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.

On the campaign trail, Fleming appealed to voters aligned with Trump’s "Make America Great Again" movement and argued that his voting record was more conservative than Letlow’s. His advertisements described him as aligned with the movement "long before it was cool."

Fleming told voters he had been prevented from contacting Trump to seek an endorsement by White House allies of Landry. He said he eventually spoke with Trump by phone and reminded the president of his identity. "I said nobody has been more loyal to you than me," Fleming recounted at a June campaign stop. "He said, 'You’re fantastic! Why didn't you call?'"

The two campaigns spent roughly $1 million each on advertising since the May 16 primary, according to ad-tracking data. A super PAC supporting Letlow accounted for an additional $4.1 million in spending over the past six weeks, according to the firm AdImpact.

Fleming’s advertisements highlighted Letlow’s prior public statements supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, which Trump has sought to eliminate. Letlow, a former college administrator, said she expressed support for such policies during a 2020 interview for the presidency of the University of Louisiana-Monroe but stated this year that she opposes them.

Fleming reposted an AI-generated video on the social platform X this month that appeared to show Letlow saying she had supported the policies because she "didn't know any better." The video also referenced her late husband. Fleming said he did not create the video "but it’s getting passed around Louisiana for a reason."

Letlow described the distribution of the video as "disgraceful and indefensible," particularly because it referenced her husband. On Saturday she thanked her late husband and introduced her fiancé, Kevin Ainsworth, a Baton Rouge lobbyist. The couple became engaged at the White House in December.

After the race was called, Letlow thanked Fleming and said the two had a civil phone conversation. "The contest for this primary is over, and now it’s on to the general election," Fleming told his supporters. "And we want to continue to make America strong by sending the best of the best there."

Letlow highlighted priorities for social conservatives, including support for national legislation prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in school sports. Fleming focused much of his campaign on opposition to carbon capture and sequestration projects, which involve injecting carbon dioxide underground. The technology’s expansion, including planned pipelines, has drawn opposition in rural Louisiana communities and divided state Republicans. Fleming argued that the projects infringe on private property rights and that federal subsidies are wasteful.

In the Democratic primary, Jamie Davis, a northeast Louisiana crop farmer, defeated Gary Crockett, a Navy veteran and business executive. Both candidates emphasized addressing the cost of living and protecting social safety net programs.

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