A jubilant Donald Trump took a victory lap after incumbent Senator Bill Cassidy lost Louisiana‘s Republican primary election.
Despite a crushing affordability crisis, rising gas prices, and falling approval amid the ongoing conflict in Iran, Trump showed he still has an iron grip over the Republican party with the victory of Congresswoman Julia Letlow and Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming.
The two challengers are projected to advance to the runoff election set for June 27, in a major victory for the president’s mission to oust his harshest critics.
‘Bill Cassidy, after falsely using his “relationship” with me during his political career, and winning Elections because of it, voted to impeach me on preposterous charges that were fake then, and now, are criminally insane!’ Trump said in a Truth Social post.
‘His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of legend, and it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!’
The seeds of Saturday’s Louisiana Senate primary were planted on February 13, 2021, when Senator Cassidy became one of just seven Republican senators to vote to convict Donald Trump following the Jan. 6th attack on the US Capitol.
The vote marked Cassidy persona non grata with the MAGA base almost immediately. It set in motion a years-long effort to replace him that only strengthened after Trump recaptured the White House in 2024. Trump endorsed Congresswoman Julia Letlow in January, all but placing a target on Cassidy’s back heading into the primary.
‘Congratulations to Congresswoman Julia Letlow on a fantastic race, beating an Incumbent Senator by Record Setting Numbers. This is the first time in History that a sitting Senator has lost by such large numbers in a Primary, unable to even go forward,’ Trump said.
President Donald Trump looks on during a news conference at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, in January 2026
US Senator Bill Cassidy greets supporters with his wife Laura Cassidy at a campaign stop at Drago’s Restaurant Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Metairie, Louisiana
Fleming, a former member of Congress who served in the House of Representatives from 2009 to 2017, also came under fire in the primary election, for overlapping his time as State Treasurer with employment at a Washington, DC lobbying firm.
While Trump wasn’t on the ballot, the result is a resounding victory for the president after weeks of bruising media coverage over the Iran conflict and its impact on Americans.
The president said this week that the ‘only thing’ that mattered about negotiations was preventing the rogue nation from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
‘I don’t think about Americans’ financial situations. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,’ he said.
The enduring strength of Trump and vulnerability of Cassidy, who became the first Republican senator to lose renomination since 2012, wasn’t just about their clash over January 6th.
Despite Trump carrying Louisiana by more than 60 percent in each of the last three presidential elections, the incumbent’s voting record has drifted well outside MAGA orthodoxy.
Most notably, Cassidy was one of 15 Republican senators who sided with Democrats to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – one of the most significant gun control measures in decades and one of the defining legislative wins of the Biden presidency.
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US Senate candidate Julia Letlow greets supporters at a campaign stop at Hammond Northshore Regional Airport in Hammond, Louisiana on Wednesday, May 6, 2026
US Senate candidate, current Louisiana treasurer and former US Representative John Fleming, speaks at a Ronald Reagan Newsmaker Luncheon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
An Emerson College poll released April 30th placed Cassidy last among the three candidates.
Asked by The Daily Mail about the results earlier in May, the senator was defiant: ‘I do plan to win. So if there’s a runoff, I’ll be in the runoff, and we’ll focus there.’
Letlow’s path to this moment is rare. First elected to Congress in a 2021 special election to fill the seat of her late husband, Luke Letlow, who died of COVID-19 before he could even be sworn in, Letlow was launched into a Senate race by the sheer force of the President.
She is also embarking on a new chapter in her personal life, having gotten engaged to Kevin Ainsworth, a Louisiana-based lobbyist, at a White House holiday party last November.
But Letlow’s candidacy has not been without turbulence.
Videos surfaced during the primary showing her advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion policies during her interview for the presidency of the University of Louisiana Monroe, a political liability in a Republican primary increasingly defined by opposition to DEI.
Letlow has sought to counter that narrative with her congressional record, including as a lead sponsor of the Parents Bill of Rights, which would expand parental access to classroom materials and require disclosure on transgender student policies.
The bill passed the House but stalled in the Senate.
The third major figure in the race is John Fleming, Louisiana’s State Treasurer and a former congressman who served in the House from 2009 to 2017.
Fleming led the Emerson poll and carries a notable piece of political history: he was Speaker Mike Johnson’s predecessor in his congressional seat, and the first person to endorse Johnson for the position.
That relationship has put Johnson in a delicate spot.
Asked by NBC News on Wednesday whom he planned to vote for, Johnson said he had not yet made up his mind – describing Letlow as ‘like a sister’ while also noting he had worked well with Cassidy, and acknowledging Fleming as his political forefather.
Fleming’s campaign has faced its own headwinds, however. He came under fire for overlapping his role as State Treasurer with employment at a Washington lobbying firm.
Saturday’s primary narrows the field to two, setting up a June 27th runoff. For Trump, the race is a test of his endorsement power in a state he dominates electorally – and a chance to complete what his allies describe as a political accountability project targeting Republicans who broke with him after January 6th.
His political operation is simultaneously hoping to oust Representative Thomas Massie in Kentucky this week, signaling that the effort extends well beyond Louisiana.
Trump’s retribution run is only getting started. Later this week, he and his political operation hope to defeat Representative Thomas Massie in Kentucky on Tuesday.
