Trump ousts Sen. Bill Cassidy from his seat

The Republican Primary Race for Louisiana’s Senate Seat Heads to a Runoff

The race for the Republican nomination in the upcoming Senate election for Louisiana’s seat held by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has taken an unexpected turn. Cassidy, a two-term senator, will not be part of the runoff that is set to take place next month. He was defeated by two prominent MAGA challengers: Rep. Julie Letlow (R-LA) and Louisiana state treasurer and former congressman John Fleming.

None of the three candidates in this highly competitive race managed to secure the majority of votes needed to avoid a runoff. As the Associated Press called the race just before 11 p.m. ET, Letlow had received 44.9% of the vote, placing her in the lead. Fleming followed with 28.4%, while Cassidy trailed with 24.6%. The top two candidates, Letlow and Fleming, will now face off in a runoff scheduled for June 27.

Cassidy addressed the loss in a concession speech, stating, “When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. But you don’t pout, you don’t whine, you don’t claim the election was stolen, you don’t find a reason, you don’t manufacture some excuse.” He added, “You thank the voters for the privilege of representing the state or the country for as long as you’ve had that privilege, and that’s what I’m doing right now.”

Trump Takes Credit for Cassidy’s Loss

President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to express his satisfaction with Cassidy’s defeat. He wrote, “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 continued, “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!”

This race has been one of the most closely watched and competitive contests leading up to the midterms. A significant factor in the dynamics of the race has been Trump’s strong opposition to Cassidy, which dates back to when Cassidy voted to impeach Trump during his second impeachment trial in the Senate following the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

This decision marked the beginning of a deteriorating relationship between the two, which never fully recovered. In 2023, as Trump faced multiple criminal indictments, Cassidy urged him to step down from the 2024 Republican primaries.

Letlow’s Rise and Trump’s Endorsement

In January of this year, Trump endorsed Letlow for the Senate seat that Cassidy currently holds — a seat she had not yet announced she was running for. Days later, Letlow officially entered the race. She also received the endorsement of Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (R).

Letlow represents Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District. She was elected during a special election after her husband, former Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, died from complications related to COVID-19 in late 2020 — just before he was set to be sworn in. Letlow won the special election to serve out the remainder of her late husband’s term and has been in Congress since then. She is the first Republican woman to represent Louisiana in the House.

Fleming’s Struggle for Support

Louisiana treasurer John Fleming, who served as a White House deputy chief of staff during Trump’s first term, attempted to reach out to Trump for his endorsement but was blocked by the president’s aides. However, Fleming later spoke with Trump in February after the president endorsed Letlow, according to the Washington Post.

“I said to him, ‘Why don’t you let me be your Plan B?’” Fleming said in an interview with the Post.

Trump’s decision to back Letlow over Cassidy was not solely based on Cassidy’s vote to impeach him. After calling for Trump to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, Cassidy also refused to endorse him.

Tensions Over Vaccine Policies

More recently, the Louisiana senator, a gastroenterologist and chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee, has been publicly clashing with Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the broader MAHA movement.

Cassidy, a staunch advocate for childhood vaccinations, has been vocal about his disagreements with Kennedy on several decisions made by the HHS secretary. Prior to his confirmation, Kennedy assured Cassidy that he would maintain the recommendations from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without any changes. This promise swayed Cassidy to support Kennedy’s HHS nomination.

However, in June, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the ACIP and replaced them with individuals of his own choosing, including some vaccine skeptics. Kennedy also promised Cassidy that he would not remove statements on the CDC’s website that stated vaccines do not cause autism. But the site was updated in November to suggest, without evidence, that possible links between vaccines and autism were “ignored.”

Cassidy was quick to denounce these changes. He has also criticized Kennedy and his team for significant and damaging revisions to the childhood vaccine schedule, reducing the number of routine shots dramatically, and pushing the idea that Tylenol use by pregnant women could be linked to autism in children.

Trump’s Nomination Controversy

Just last month, Trump had to withdraw his nominee for the U.S. surgeon general — MAHA-backed Casey Means — after she faced scrutiny over her stance on vaccines and her lack of experience during her confirmation hearing. Trump and Means’ brother, Calley Means, a health adviser to the Trump administration, blamed Cassidy for the failed nomination.

This story originally appeared on Talking Points Memo.