Sen. Bill Cassidy Wins Louisiana Republican Primary

Sen. Bill Cassidy faces his first primary challenge since voting to convict President Trump in the 2021 impeachment trial over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Louisiana voters head to the polls Saturday in a closed Republican primary that will determine whether Cassidy advances to a potential runoff on June 27 against Rep.

Julia Letlow or state Treasurer John Fleming. No candidate is expected to secure a majority. Cassidy, a physician who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has highlighted his record of delivering federal funding to Louisiana, including through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

He has noted that President Trump signed several bills he helped negotiate, including measures to lower prescription drug costs and address fentanyl trafficking. Cassidy told reporters he works well with the president despite their past differences.

Letlow, who won a special election to the House in 2021 after the death of her husband, has embraced the president's agenda and received his endorsement.

Letlow has focused her campaign on education issues, including the Parents Bill of Rights Act, and has leaned into messaging aligned with the Make America Healthy Again movement. Fleming, a former member of Congress who served in the Trump administration, has positioned himself as the only "true conservative" in the race.

He has focused on opposition to the state's carbon capture policies and said he declined a Trump administration job offer to drop out of the contest.

Fleming has remained competitive in polls despite Trump's backing of Letlow. The primary comes after Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation shifting Louisiana from all-party "jungle" primaries to closed party primaries.

Landry, who backs Letlow, also delayed House primaries scheduled for Saturday but left the Senate race on its original date. Cassidy has criticized the changes, saying they confuse voters and create an uphill battle by limiting participation from unaffiliated voters who might support him.

"People are calling my office to say they tried to vote for me, but they could not," Cassidy told reporters on a call Friday.

"People are confused ... " Cassidy's 2021 vote to convict Trump has been a central point of contention. Most of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict have since retired or left office.

Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska remain. Collins faces no primary challenge this year while Murkowski won reelection in 2022 under Alaska's unique nonpartisan system. Voter reactions at events like the crawfish festival in Breaux Bridge reflected the divide.

Others, including St. Martin Parish GOP Chair Kelby Daigle, backed him and expressed concern that the party had become too focused on Trump personally rather than conservative principles.

Cassidy has also faced criticism from the Make America Healthy Again movement over his clashes with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccine policy, even though he cast the key vote to confirm Kennedy.

The senator opposed Trump's nominee for surgeon general, Casey Means, an ally of Kennedy, saying she lacked the votes for confirmation. A PAC aligned with the movement has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars opposing Cassidy. Campaign spending in the race has exceeded $30 million.

Ads supporting Cassidy totaled $21.8 million while those boosting Letlow reached $9.8 million and pro-Fleming efforts hit $1.5 million, according to AdImpact. The Cassidy campaign has attacked Letlow over past support for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives during her time at the University of Louisiana. Letlow has said she fought DEI efforts in Congress.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has described his relationships with all three candidates as close but has not endorsed. Senate Majority Leader John Thune praised Cassidy as "a terrific senator for Louisiana" and said GOP leadership's role is to support incumbents.

Cassidy has appealed to voters by emphasizing his independence and willingness to make difficult decisions based on facts, drawing from his experience as a physician.

He has courted independents and even some Democrats who value his occasional breaks with party leadership. At the same time, he has worked to reassure Trump supporters by pointing to concrete legislative achievements signed into law by the president. >"Bill Cassidy has been a terrific senator for Louisiana.

" — Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Thursday (NBC News) The outcome will help determine how many Republicans willing to occasionally break with Trump remain in the Senate. Cassidy has expressed confidence he will win reelection, either outright or in a runoff against Fleming if Letlow fails to advance.