Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy on Friday downplayed the political weight of President Donald Trump’s backing of GOP Rep. Julia Letlow, saying the race for Louisiana’s U.S. Senate seat should turn on what Cassidy said he has delivered for the state. Cassidy spoke as he filed for Louisiana’s May primary, formally placing himself into a contest that will test whether the two-term senator can maintain support as Trump seeks to reshape the party around loyalty.
Cassidy’s comments came in Baton Rouge after his paperwork submission put him on the ballot and after Trump had already endorsed Letlow ahead of her formally declaring that she would run. Trump’s early endorsement, and Letlow’s emphasis on it, set up a contrast between Cassidy and a challenger positioned as aligned with the president.
Cassidy, 68, also pointed to his work in Louisiana when asked whether he regretted the vote he cast in 2021 to convict Trump during the president’s impeachment trial after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Cassidy said the question about his vote from five years ago was one “that he says Trump has never asked him,” and he instead argued that the focus should remain on Louisiana’s priorities.
Cassidy said: “The people of our state want safer streets, they want to be healthier, they want to have more money in their pocket. I have delivered that working with President Trump, over and over again,” adding, “That’s what the race should be decided on.” He said the campaign should assess what he has accomplished rather than what Trump has done to back Letlow.
The Republican primary has also taken on an added edge from Cassidy’s history with Trump and from intraparty punishment that Louisiana Republicans imposed on him after he joined six other Republicans in voting to convict Trump. Cassidy has sought to mend ties with the president and his loyalists, including casting a decisive vote to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as Health and Human Services secretary.
Letlow, who also filed her candidate paperwork in Baton Rouge, portrayed Trump’s endorsement as a signal about who can be trusted in the Senate. She said Trump’s endorsement was a reflection that “he needs someone he can depend on over in the Senate.”
Outside the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office, Cassidy’s campaign placed a mobile billboard displaying attacks on Letlow, including a message calling her a “liberal.” Letlow responded by directly linking the endorsement to her alignment with Trump’s political brand, saying: “I can tell you this, President Trump would never endorse someone who is not a true America First conservative. He has chosen me to endorse and that should give the people peace of mind when they have to look at these negative, desperate ads.”
In addition to Cassidy and Letlow, Louisiana’s Republican primary also includes State Treasurer John Fleming and a lesser-known candidate, Mark Spencer, according to filings. On the other side of the ballot, Louisiana Democrats said major figures decided against making a challenge after the filing deadline came and went, leaving the race heavily shaped by Republican primary politics.
The AP reported that the last time Louisiana had a Democrat in the U.S. Senate was Mary Landrieu, who served from 1997 to 2015. Former Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards announced last year he would not seek the seat, and the Louisiana Democratic Party chair, Randal Gaines, said the party also approached Mitch Landrieu, Louisiana’s former lieutenant governor and a senior advisor to former President Joe Biden.
Gaines told The Associated Press that both Edwards and Landrieu concluded the “current political climate was not conducive for a Democrat winning a U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana,” and he said the party’s approach would focus on longer-term efforts. “We are building for a transformative future. Successfully running for political office is about timing and opportunity. Our strategy is the long game,” Gaines said. Gaines did not say whether the party would endorse any of the three other Democrats who qualified to run.