Trump-Backed Julia Letlow Defeats Freedom Caucus Co-Founder In Race To Succeed Pro-Impeachment GOP LA Sen Bill Cassidy

Trump-backed Republican Louisiana Rep. Julia Letlow bested State Treasurer John Fleming in a Saturday GOP primary showdown to replace an ousted senator who had voted to convict the president.

Letlow won 56.5% of the vote in the Republican primary runoff to Fleming’s 43.5%, The Associated Press reported with 69% of ballots counted. Given Louisiana’s strong red lean, the 45-year-old congresswoman thereby becomes the heavy favorite in the upcoming November general election to succeed outgoing two-term Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy who, coming in third place during the May primary, failed to make the runoff.

President Donald Trump notably announced he would endorse Letlow in January, three days before she entered the race to unseat Cassidy. Fleming, 74 — who served in Congress from 2009 to 2017 and co-founded the conservative House Freedom Caucus — had been running for the Senate seat since December 2024. Fleming also previously worked as a doctor and businessman, served in the U.S. Navy, and held multiple roles in Trump’s first administration.

Cassidy, in February 2021, became just one of seven GOP senators to side with Democrats in voting to convict Trump after his second impeachment. With the vote falling short of the required two-thirds majority threshold to convict him, Trump was acquitted of his charge of “incitement of insurrection” following the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.