Louisiana GOP Primary Tests Trump Influence on Party

Louisiana Republicans vote Saturday in a Senate primary that will show how far President Donald Trump’s preferences reach inside his party. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump in the 2021 impeachment trial, faces Rep. Julia Letlow, whom Trump endorsed in January, and state Treasurer John Fleming. The outcome will decide whether the incumbent advances or whether voters replace him with a candidate who has aligned more closely with the president.

The race occurs under new rules. Louisiana replaced its open jungle primary with separate party primaries, narrowing the electorate to registered Republicans and unaffiliated voters. Gov. Jeff Landry, a Trump ally, backed Letlow and postponed House primaries after the Supreme Court struck down the state’s congressional map. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent on Saturday, the top two advance to a June 27 runoff.

Cassidy, a physician and chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, points to legislation he wrote or negotiated that Trump signed and to $13.5 billion in infrastructure funding for Louisiana roads, bridges and broadband. He also highlights his endorsement from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. Letlow, who won her House seat in a 2021 special election after her husband’s death, stresses her Trump endorsement and her opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion programs she once supported in higher education. Fleming, who served in Trump’s first administration, presents himself as the strongest conservative and criticizes both rivals.

Trump has called Cassidy “very disloyal” and urged voters to defeat him. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the National Republican Senatorial Committee have defended Cassidy as a strong incumbent. Spending has exceeded $30 million, with Cassidy’s side accounting for the largest share. An Emerson College poll from April showed Fleming and Letlow ahead of Cassidy among likely Republican primary voters, though the race remains fluid.

Cassidy has clashed with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy and blocked the confirmation of Casey Means as surgeon general. Letlow has leaned into Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again agenda. Fleming has focused on state issues including carbon capture. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has stayed neutral, citing personal ties to all three candidates.