Trump endorsed U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow over Cassidy, who voted to convict the president during his second impeachment trial, which was sparked by the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Cassidy, a doctor, has also clashed<\/a> with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy, even though he provided crucial support<\/a> to help Kennedy get confirmed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The Louisiana primary comes in the middle of a month of campaigns by Trump to exact retribution on politicians who have crossed him. On May 5 he helped dislodge five of seven Indiana state senators<\/a> who rejected his redistricting plan. <\/p>\n Next Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky will face a Trump-backed challenger<\/a>, Ed Gallrein, in another Republican primary. Massie angered Trump by opposing his signature tax legislation over concerns about the national debt, pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and opposing his decision to go to war with Iran.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n U.S. Senate candidate, current Louisiana treasurer and former U.S. Representative (R-La.) John Fleming, speaks at a Ronald Reagan Newsmaker Luncheon in Baton Rouge, La., Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)<\/p>\n U.S. Senate candidate, current Louisiana treasurer and former U.S. Representative (R-La.) John Fleming, speaks at a Ronald Reagan Newsmaker Luncheon in Baton Rouge, La., Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n The president unloaded on Cassidy on Saturday morning, calling him \u201ca disloyal disaster\u201d and \u201ca terrible guy\u201d on social media. Trump criticized the senator\u2019s impeachment vote and said \u201che\u2019s going to get CLOBBERED,\u201d adding that Letlow is \u201ca winner who will NEVER let you down.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeanelle Chachere, a 66-year-old nurse, said she considers Cassidy \u201ca phony\u201d and she voted for Letlow solely because Trump endorsed her. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going by what he says, because I like what he does,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n A third candidate is state Treasurer John Fleming. If no one gets at least 50% of the vote, a runoff will be held June 27. The GOP primary winner will almost certainly take the November general election because of the state\u2019s Republican leanings.<\/p>\n Election changes stir concern<\/p>\n The election was scrambled by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision<\/a> gutting a part of the Voting Rights Act that affects how congressional maps are drawn. Although the Senate primary is moving forward, Louisiana leaders decided to delay House primaries<\/a> until a future date to allow them to redo district lines ahead of time, a shift that threatened to cause confusion<\/a> for voters on Saturday. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Supporters of U.S. Senate candidate, current Louisiana treasurer and former U.S. Representative (R-La.) John Fleming, wait for him to speak at a Ronald Reagan Newsmaker Luncheon in Baton Rouge, La., Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)<\/p>\n Supporters of U.S. Senate candidate, current Louisiana treasurer and former U.S. Representative (R-La.) John Fleming, wait for him to speak at a Ronald Reagan Newsmaker Luncheon in Baton Rouge, La., Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Mary-Patricia Wray, who has consulted for Republican and Democratic candidates in Louisiana, said the change could weigh against Cassidy by dampening turnout among voters who are less fervently pro-Trump. <\/p>\n \u201cSuspending the congressional primaries hurts Cassidy,\u201d she said. \u201cSome people believe the Senate primary is canceled.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassidy also complained that a new primary system enacted last year confused voters by requiring them to ask for a partisan ballot instead of the all-party primary previously in place. He said some called his office to say they had been unable to vote for him.<\/p>\n \u201cThe process that was set up was destined to be confusing,\u201d Cassidy told reporters Friday. <\/p>\n Dadrius Lanus, executive director of the state Democratic Party, said his team fielded hundreds of calls from voters statewide who said the changes undermined their ability vote as they planned. <\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the information should have gotten to voters well in advance,\u201d Lanus said. \u201cIt\u2019s literally been a whirlwind of confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n A senator tries to hang on<\/p>\n Cassidy has waged an aggressive campaign to convince voters he should not be counted out. <\/p>\n \u201cFour months ago I would have told you it\u2019s impossible for Cassidy to win this,\u201d said Wray, the political consultant. \u201cI still think it\u2019s statistically unlikely, but no longer impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul Begue, a 41-year-old in New Orleans who works in the agriculture industry, said he planned to vote for Cassidy. He was bothered by a video of Trump saying Letlow was \u201cas loyal as can be.\u201d For Begue, that was \u201cthe final nail in the coffin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care about her loyalty to President Trump,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cI like elected officials that seem to make their own decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n The senator\u2019s campaign is expected to have spent roughly $9.6 million on advertising through May 16, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. And Louisiana Freedom Fund, a super PAC supporting him, is on track to spend $12.3 million.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., greets supporters at a campaign stop at Drago\u2019s Restaurant Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Metairie, La. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)<\/p>\n U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., greets supporters at a campaign stop at Drago\u2019s Restaurant Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Metairie, La. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n By comparison Letlow\u2019s campaign, which launched Jan. 20, has spent roughly $3.9 million, while a super PAC backing her, the Accountability Project, has spent about $6 million since then.<\/p>\n Fleming\u2019s campaign has spent about $1.5 million.<\/p>\n Cassidy and Louisiana Freedom Fund ran ads attacking Letlow within days of her entering the race for supporting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, which Trump has tried to root out of the federal government.<\/p>\n Letlow, a college administrator before her election to the House, said she supported DEI while interviewing for the position of president of University of Louisiana-Monroe in 2020.<\/p>\n The ads, an attempt to characterize Letlow as a progressive trying to pass as a conservative, are one way Cassidy is trying to flip the script in a race where he\u2019s on the outs with Trump. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n U.S. Senate candidate Julia Letlow greets supporters at a campaign stop at Hammond Northshore Regional Airport in Hammond, La., Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)<\/p>\n U.S. Senate candidate Julia Letlow greets supporters at a campaign stop at Hammond Northshore Regional Airport in Hammond, La., Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n The president targets Cassidy<\/p>\n The senator\u2019s vote in favor of convicting Trump after his 2021 impeachment over the Jan. 6 Capitol siege has shadowed Cassidy throughout his second Senate term.<\/p>\n John Martin, a 68-year-old retired engineer in south Louisiana, said he would vote for Letlow because he was still upset by Cassidy\u2019s decision. He waved a flyer from Letlow\u2019s campaign showing her standing alongside the president.<\/p>\n \u201cI know a lot more about Cassidy than I do about her,\u201d Martin said. \u201cBut if she\u2019s endorsed by Trump, I\u2019m going to believe that.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassidy steered clear of Trump\u2019s ire last year, supporting Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services despite his public reservations about the nominee\u2019s anti-vaccine views. <\/p>\n Mark Workman, a 75-year-old retired infectious disease physician in the New Orleans suburbs, said he backs Fleming. Had Cassidy \u201cstood up and blocked RFK,\u201d Workman said, he would have supported the senator for taking a strong and courageous stance. <\/p>\n \u201cHe had the ability to stop him,\u201d Workman said, \u201cand he was too weak to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n As chair of the Senate health committee, Cassidy has been more publicly critical of Kennedy, including over funding cuts for vaccine development. <\/p>\n![\"U.S.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778984889_636_.jpeg\")
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