That initial break proved unforgivable in a party increasingly defined by loyalty to Trump.
Cassidy's impeachment vote and occasional breaks with Trump proved fatal; Trump's endorsement of Letlow was decisive in the primary. Letlow, first Republican woman elected to Congress from Louisiana, leveraged Trump's backing against Cassidy's claims of disloyalty to GOP.
- Bill Cassidy, 68, eliminated in Louisiana GOP Senate primary after voting to impeach Trump in 2021
- Julia Letlow and John Fleming advance to runoff; Letlow is first Republican woman elected to Congress from Louisiana
- Trump endorsed Letlow in January and celebrated her primary performance on Truth Social
- Louisiana is solidly Republican; last elected a Democrat to Senate in 2008
Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming advance to a runoff in Louisiana's GOP Senate primary, eliminating incumbent Bill Cassidy, who voted to impeach Trump in 2021.
Bill Cassidy's political career in the Senate came to an abrupt end on Saturday in Louisiana, eliminated in the Republican primary by two rivals who had positioned themselves as more reliably aligned with Donald Trump. The 68-year-old incumbent, who had served two terms and was seeking a third, finished outside the top two in a three-way race that will now move to a runoff between Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming.
Cassidy's defeat was rooted in a single, defining vote. In 2021, after the Capitol riot on January 6th, he was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump during the impeachment trial. Though Cassidy had worked to rebuild his relationship with the administration in subsequent years, and even delivered the crucial vote to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as HHS Secretary, that initial break proved unforgivable in a party increasingly defined by loyalty to Trump. The president had made his preference clear in January, endorsing Letlow and urging her to run for the seat.
Letlow, 45, is a first-term congresswoman who won her House seat in 2021 through a special election following the death of her husband, who died from COVID-19 complications before he could be sworn in. She built her primary campaign around the argument that Cassidy could not be trusted when the pressure mounted, hammering him as disloyal to the Republican Party. Fleming, who served in Trump's first administration and previously represented Louisiana in the House, positioned himself as the only true "MAGA Republican" in the race. Both candidates weaponized Cassidy's impeachment vote and his occasional public disagreements with the administration.
Cassidy tried to turn the tables, accusing both opponents of insufficient conservatism. He pointed to comments Letlow had made in 2020 supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in education—a line of attack Fleming also deployed. But the argument failed to gain traction in a primary electorate that had already decided the question of loyalty was paramount. Trump himself celebrated Letlow's performance on Truth Social late Saturday night, calling her campaign "fantastic" and claiming she had beaten an incumbent "by Record Setting Numbers." In a follow-up post, he accused Cassidy of falsely trading on their relationship throughout his political career and reiterated his grievances over the impeachment vote, calling the charges "criminally insane."
The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate Republicans' official campaign arm, had backed Cassidy. Senate Majority Leader John Thune had defended him publicly just days before the primary, calling him "a terrific senator for Louisiana" and noting that supporting incumbents was part of the committee's mandate. But institutional support proved no match for Trump's influence, even as he approaches the final stretch of his term. The outcome mirrors recent successes Trump has had in pushing out Republican state senators in Indiana who had defied his redistricting efforts.
On the Democratic side, farmer Jamie Davis won his party's nomination, but the general election outcome is largely predetermined. Louisiana is solidly Republican territory—Trump won 60 percent of the vote statewide in 2024—and the state has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 2008. Whoever emerges from the GOP runoff between Letlow and Fleming will almost certainly claim the seat in November.
Notable Quotes
Letlow ran 'a fantastic race, beating an Incumbent Senator by Record Setting Numbers,' and 'will make a brilliant Senator for the Great People of Louisiana'— Donald Trump, on Truth Social
Bill Cassidy has been a terrific senator for Louisiana... our job is to do what we can to support incumbents— Senate Majority Leader John Thune
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Cassidy's impeachment vote matter so much five years later? Voters move on from these things.
Not in this party, not anymore. That vote became a symbol of something larger—whether you're with Trump or against him. Everything else Cassidy did got filtered through that lens.
But he voted for Kennedy's nomination. He worked with the administration.
It didn't matter. The impeachment vote was the original sin. You can't undo it by cooperating later. Trump doesn't forget, and his voters don't either.
So Letlow won just because Trump endorsed her?
That was huge, but she also ran a smarter campaign. She made it about loyalty and trust. Cassidy was defending himself the whole time instead of making his own case.
What about Fleming? He seems to have gotten squeezed out.
He did, but he's in the runoff. The primary was crowded and split the anti-Cassidy vote. Fleming will have a clearer path now that it's just two people.
Does this tell us anything about the Republican Party right now?
It tells you the party is still Trump's party. Institutional support—the Senate leadership, the campaign committee—it all meant nothing. The base decides, and the base cares about loyalty above all else.
What happens in November?
The Republican wins. Louisiana hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly two decades. This primary was the real election.