Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy missed the runoff in the state’s GOP Senate primary Saturday, ending the reelection hopes of one of the few Senate Republicans who voted to convict President Donald Trump after the January 6 Capitol protest.
Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow and Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming are now set to advance after no candidate received the majority needed to avoid a June 27 runoff.
Cassidy’s defeat is not complicated.
In 2021, Cassidy joined Democrats and a small group of establishment Republicans in voting to convict Trump during the second impeachment trial. That vote followed him for years and turned what should have been a safe Republican reelection campaign into a political disaster.
Before Saturday’s primary, Cassidy was one of seven Republican senators who supported conviction and one of only three still serving in office.
Trump made clear where he stood before voters cast their ballots. In a Truth Social post ahead of the election, he called Cassidy a “disloyal disaster” and warned Louisiana voters that the senator was “BAD FOR LOUISIANA.”
The message clearly resonated.
Cassidy had the backing of Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, but establishment support and campaign cash were not enough to save him from a conservative base that never forgot his impeachment vote.
Letlow built much of her campaign around Trump’s endorsement and argued Louisiana needed a senator aligned with the president’s America First agenda. Fleming, a former congressman and Trump administration official, also competed aggressively for conservative voters.
Together, both challengers left Cassidy politically stranded between an energized MAGA base and a Republican establishment that could not deliver enough support to rescue him.
Cassidy attempted to frame himself as a practical Republican focused on Louisiana issues, but voters remained focused on the issue that defined his national reputation.
Republican voters were asked whether a senator could vote with Democrats to convict Trump and then expect conservatives to simply move on years later. Louisiana voters delivered a decisive answer.
After the results became clear Saturday night, Trump celebrated Cassidy’s political downfall in a blistering Truth Social post.
“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 wrote.
“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!”
Trump also thanked Louisiana voters for delivering what he called a “Big Victory,” adding, “I LOVE YOU ALL. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
For Trump, Saturday’s result sent a clear message across the Republican Party: lawmakers who side with Democrats against the voters who built the America First movement may eventually face consequences at the ballot box.
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