Trump entered the race to defeat incumbent Republican Bill Cassidy, who has criticized Trump’s actions after the 2020 vote.
Published June 28, 2026
A candidate backed by US President Donald Trump has won Louisiana’s Republican primary and is on track to win the Senate seat in November.
Current U.S. Representative Julia Letlow defeated State Treasurer John Fleming in a two-candidate runoff Tuesday.
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Although he will face Democrat Jamie Davis, a farmer, in November’s midterm voting, Letlow will likely be the favorite in the Republican-leaning southern state.
Trump entered the campaign ahead of the first primary voting on May 16th. While publicly opposing incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy, he supported Mr. Lelow.
Cassidy was one of the few Republicans to vote to convict Trump after he was impeached in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
Cassidy, a physician, has also clashed with the Trump administration over health care policy under Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Still, Mr. Cassidy has largely supported Mr. Trump’s policy initiatives in recent years, in an apparent attempt to mend relations with the president.
In the end, he placed third in the first round of voting behind LeRoe and former Congressman Fleming, who are ardent supporters of President Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
Mr. Leslow’s victory confirms Mr. Trump’s continued control over a large portion of the Republican base.
He successfully supported a challenger in Kentucky to incumbent Rep. Thomas Massey, another top Republican critic, and in Texas, he successfully endorsed loyalist Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.
Mr. Trump has had little success in gubernatorial races, with his supporters unable to secure Republican candidates in races in Iowa and Georgia.
It remains unclear whether President Trump’s involvement will be an advantage in the general election, when Democrats will seek to wrest control of both houses of Congress from Republicans.
Opinion polls show that support for Mr. Trump is declining among a wide range of voters. His approval rating has hit an all-time low as the war between the United States and Israel and Iran has repercussions for the American economy.
The administration’s aggressive approach to deportations has also received poor reviews, particularly after the killings of two Americans by immigration enforcement officers in January.
The political climate threatens to embolden Democrats and alienate voters who don’t identify with either party.
Some Republican leaders have also criticized Trump’s tendency to choose loyalty over a candidate’s viability.
For example, Republican leaders have expressed particular regret that President Trump endorsed Paxton over Cornyn in Texas.
Paxton, the state’s scandal-plagued current attorney general, is seen as a weaker candidate in the general election than the moderate incumbent, Cornyn.
He is expected to face a tough race against his rising Democratic rival, James Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian who is currently gaining attention in the state for his blend of faith and liberal policy platform.
