Cassidy Crashes to Third Place in Louisiana GOP Primary — First Senate Defeat in 14 Years
Sen. Bill Cassidy trails badly in Louisiana GOP primary with 26% as Trump-backed Julia Letlow leads at 42%. First sitting GOP senator primary loss since 2012.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) crashed to third place in Saturday's Louisiana GOP primary, trailing badly with just 26.3 percent of the vote as results poured in. Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow commanded the field with 42.4 percent, while former Rep. John Fleming held second place at 29.1 percent with 40 percent of precincts reporting.
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The stunning collapse positions Cassidy to become the first sitting Republican senator to lose a primary in 14 years. The last GOP senator to fall was Dick Lugar of Indiana in 2012, who lost to Richard Mourdock.
Trump's Impeachment Revenge
Cassidy sealed his fate when he joined Democrats and a handful of Republicans to convict Trump on his second impeachment following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. He remains one of just three Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump and are still in office.
Trump targeted Cassidy for elimination, as Insider Wire previously reported, calling him a "disloyal disaster" and throwing his full support behind Letlow. The president's endorsement proved decisive in a state where Trump remains overwhelmingly popular among Republican voters.
Early returns painted a grim picture for the incumbent. With just 15 percent reporting, Cassidy found himself deep in third with 24.2 percent while Letlow surged to 45.2 percent. The gap only widened as more votes came in, leaving Cassidy needing what one observer called "a miracle" to survive.
Establishment Under Fire
The Louisiana results reflect a broader conservative uprising against establishment Republicans. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton leads incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in polling ahead of their GOP primary runoff later this month, suggesting Saturday's outcome may not be an isolated incident.
Fleming, Louisiana's State Treasurer and a former congressman, carved out the middle ground between Trump's pick and the establishment incumbent. His strong second-place showing demonstrates the depth of anti-Cassidy sentiment among Louisiana Republicans.
Polls closed at 9:00 p.m. ET across Louisiana, with election officials expecting final results before midnight. If no candidate reaches 50 percent, the race heads to a runoff, though Cassidy's third-place finish likely eliminates him regardless.
The defeat would mark a seismic shift in Republican politics, proving that even sitting senators remain vulnerable to Trump-backed challengers. Conservative activists nationwide will watch closely to see if Louisiana's results inspire similar primary challenges in future cycles.
