Julia Letlow, widow of Republican U.S. Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, speaks to members of the press at the Louisiana State Archives after signing up to run for the 5th District seat on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in Baton Rouge, La. Luke Letlow won a December election for the congressional seat but died of COVID-19 complications in December, before he could be sworn into office. (AP Photo/Brett Duke)
President Donald Trump’s pick in Louisiana’s Senate contest has secured the Republican nomination after a bruising primary that culminated in a runoff.
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Three-term Rep. Julia Letlow was projected to beat state Treasurer John Fleming in a runoff race on Saturday that mostly measured which candidate was Trumpier. Letlow is now favored to win the general election for Sen. Bill Cassidy’s seat in Congress because of how red Louisiana is.
Cassidy, who earned Trump’s anger by voting to convict him during his 2021 impeachment, failed to advance to the runoff in May.
That Trump’s candidate won in Louisiana is a welcome victory for a president whose endorsement power and ability to shape public opinion has been constantly under test this cycle. His role especially stands out in this race, given that he was eager to see the incumbent out of Congress and that he endorsed Letlow before she’d even jumped in the race.
“I know Julia well, have seen her tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and she is a TOTAL WINNER!” Trump said in a social media post on Friday, urging Louisiana voters to back her.
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Letlow has served in Congress since 2021, when she won a special election to replace her husband, Luke Letlow, who died in December 2020, just days before he was set to be sworn in. She represents a solidly red district that stretches the entire eastern side of the state.
She received the endorsement of Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, and her campaign was backed by MAHA PAC, which is associated with the Make America Healthy Again movement. Cassidy often criticized the movement, which led the PAC to spend against him in the primary.
Fleming, a former lawmaker, was a founder of the House Freedom Caucus who worked in the first Trump administration as a liaison for Operation Warp Speed, the White House’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
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Letlow beat Fleming by about 16 percentage points in the initial primary vote.
Jamie Davis is the projected nominee for Democrats.
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