Louisiana Runoff Tests Reach of Trump Endorsements

Louisiana Republicans decide Saturday whether President Donald Trump’s preferred candidate will claim the party’s Senate nomination. The outcome will show how far his influence extends inside the GOP after he already forced Sen. Bill Cassidy from the race.

Voters choose between Rep. Julia Letlow, who received Trump’s backing before she entered the contest, and state Treasurer John Fleming. In the May primary Letlow took 45 percent, Fleming 28 percent and Cassidy just under 25 percent, sending the top two into the runoff. The winner faces only token opposition in November in the solidly Republican state.

Trump has described Letlow as a tested ally who supported his immigration agenda and would back the SAVE America Act. Fleming, a former congressman and House Freedom Caucus founder who served in Trump’s first administration, argues he is the more consistent conservative on issues such as diversity programs and foreign aid. He has pointed to an internal poll showing him ahead by five points, though independent surveys favor Letlow.

Cassidy’s primary defeat marked the first time an elected Republican senator lost renomination since Richard Lugar in 2012. The senator had drawn Trump’s ire for voting to convict him in the second impeachment trial. After the loss, Cassidy and Trump exchanged sharp words at a closed-door Senate lunch over Cassidy’s opposition to aspects of the administration’s Iran policy.

Letlow also carries endorsements from Gov. Jeff Landry and several sitting senators. Fleming has not received Trump’s support in the runoff but continues to court the president’s voters by stressing differences on the filibuster and election legislation. Both candidates have said they would consider changes to Senate rules to advance the SAVE America Act.

Turnout will decide much. Strategists note that low participation could favor Fleming’s core supporters, while higher turnout would likely benefit the better-funded Letlow campaign and its allied super PACs. The result will add one more data point to Trump’s mixed record of primary endorsements this cycle.