After Bill Cassidy’s impeachment vote against President Donald Trump, Louisiana Republicans showed how hard it could be for a party figure to keep political footing when Trump’s disapproval follows him into a primary.
Cassidy, a doctor and incumbent senator, tried to repair his relationship with Trump over the years after he voted to convict during the impeachment trial connected to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but the effort did not translate into primary survival. In the weekend Republican contest, Cassidy lost enough support that he did not even reach a runoff.
In the New Orleans suburb where voter Charles Wandfluh cast his ballot, the political relationship between Cassidy and Trump was the lens through which the race was understood. Wandfluh said Cassidy was trying to chase influence despite opposition from Trump, using the analogy that he was “just a squirrel running around the tree, chasing nuts to find whatever he can get to benefit him.” He contrasted that with his view that Cassidy’s impeachment decision mattered more than any later attempt to align.
Cassidy’s candidacy was also tested by the way voters evaluated earlier policy choices. The Associated Press report said Cassidy had supported Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his earlier role as Trump’s health secretary nominee, despite Kennedy’s anti-vaccine activism—an issue the article said later produced friction between Cassidy and Trump after Kennedy took the job.
The primary outcome reflected that broader loyalty dynamic. Despite outspending his rivals, Cassidy finished third, according to the report, falling short of making a runoff against Letlow and Fleming.
Trump’s involvement appeared to further harden the contrast between candidates. The report said Letlow, who was first in the voting Saturday, carried Trump’s endorsement into the contest, and she told supporters after winning there was “no greater endorsement than the endorsement of President Trump,” adding, “We’ll always be singing that from the mountaintops.” Trump then posted on social media praising Letlow’s victory speech as “great,” while describing Cassidy as ungrateful for prior support.
Trump also framed Cassidy’s defeat as retribution for disloyalty. In the AP report, Trump wrote that Cassidy’s “disloyalty” to the president who backed him was “now a part of legend,” and Trump added: “it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!”
Cassidy’s failure to win support was not limited to voters who described themselves as pro-Trump. The report included other explanations from Republican voters who viewed Cassidy’s record in terms of the president’s demands and the consequences of prior votes and confirmations.
Mark Schulingkanp, a shipping-industry worker, said he supported Letlow specifically to avoid conflict that had marked Cassidy’s relationship with Trump. Jeanelle Chachere, a nurse, described Cassidy as a “phony” and said she voted for Letlow solely because of Trump’s endorsement. Another voter, Mark Workman, said he supported Fleming as a way to punish Cassidy for going along with Kennedy’s confirmation. Workman argued that Cassidy had the ability to block Kennedy but did not do it.
After Cassidy’s loss, the report said he addressed Trump’s influence without naming him, telling supporters in Baton Rouge that “Our country is not about one individual. It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution,” and adding that loyalty rested with “the welfare of my people, and my state, and my country, and my Constitution to which I am loyal.”
In Washington, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican who has aligned with Trump politically, offered a message of party discipline after Cassidy’s defeat. Graham told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that the headline was that “Trump’s strong,” and that those who try to “destroy Trump politically, stand in the way of his agenda, are going to lose.” He added that while voters could “disagree with President Trump,” those efforts could not succeed if the aim was to confront him inside the party, because “this is the party of Donald Trump.”
The report also described how Trump’s grip on the Republican Party has continued to show up in other challenges and endorsements beyond Louisiana. It said Trump recently displaced five Indiana state senators who opposed his redistricting plan, and that he is backing a challenger to U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky’s primary after Massie opposed Trump’s signature tax legislation, pressed for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, and questioned Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran.
In the same thread of possible future targeting, the Associated Press report said Trump suggested he could next withdraw support from U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado if conditions changed, though it also noted that candidate filing deadlines had already passed.
Looking ahead in Louisiana, the race is set to continue. The Associated Press report said U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow—endorsed by Trump—and state Treasurer John Fleming will compete for the Republican nomination on June 27.