Folks, I almost spilled my coffee reading this one. It seems like Louisiana Republican voters are about to decide whether to follow President Donald Trump’s lead in choosing a new senator. On Saturday, they’ll be voting in a primary runoff between Rep. Julia Letlow, who’s endorsed by Trump, and state Treasurer John Fleming. This contest is all but certain to determine the next senator in the deep-red state, and I’m curious to see how it all plays out.
The two candidates are vying to replace Sen. Bill Cassidy, a two-term Republican who finished third in the May 16 primary. Cassidy, along with Texas Sen. John Cornyn, is one of two GOP incumbents ousted in primaries this spring after Trump opposed them. The president’s bid for vengeance in Louisiana came after Cassidy voted in 2021 to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial. You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
In the primary, Letlow earned the most votes with nearly 45% support, followed by Fleming at 28% and Cassidy at almost 25%. Because no candidate received a majority, the top two finishers advanced to the runoff. Saturday’s election is the latest test of Trump’s grip on the Republican Party, and it comes during a midterm primary season that began with Trump pulling off an impressive string of victories.
But in recent weeks, GOP voters have snubbed Trump, passing over his picks in Republican primaries for governor in Iowa and Georgia. His choice in South Carolina was also on track to lose ahead of last Tuesday’s primary runoff, so Trump, in a last-minute, face-saving move, also endorsed the other candidate, state Attorney General Alan Wilson, who would go on to win by more than 30 points. Bless their hearts.
Trump on Thursday night held a telephone rally for Letlow, praising her vote for his sweeping tax and spending measure last year, touting her support for his immigration enforcement efforts, and saying she would back his elections bill that would broadly ban mail-in voting, require voter identification, and more. “She’s fantastic. She’s going to do a great job. She’s a warrior,” Trump said during his appearance, which lasted about six minutes.
Despite Trump’s endorsement, the ideological differences in the GOP race are relatively scant. Fleming, 74, has campaigned on his support for a “pro-Trump agenda,” while Letlow, a 45-year-old former university administrator, was first elected to Congress in 2021. She won a special election to fill a vacancy created when her husband, Luke Letlow, died from Covid-19 in December 2020.
A key factor in Saturday’s runoff could be how voters in the state’s three most populous parishes — Orleans, East Baton Rouge, and Jefferson — vote. In the May 16 primary, Cassidy was the top vote-getter in all three. Democrats are also choosing their Senate nominee in a runoff Saturday, but let’s be real, folks, Trump has won Louisiana by more than 18 percentage points three times, and the state is not viewed by Democrats as a target this fall.
In conclusion, the Louisiana Senate primary runoff is shaping up to be an interesting contest, with Trump’s endorsement hanging in the balance. While the ideological differences between the candidates are relatively small, the outcome of the election will likely depend on how voters in the state’s most populous parishes cast their ballots. And let’s not forget, the winner of the GOP runoff will almost certainly be elected to a full term in November. As I always say, you can’t make this stuff up, and I’m excited to see how it all plays out – now, where’s my coffee refill?
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
