Cassidy faces Trump-backed challenge in Louisiana Senate race

Louisiana Republicans are about to decide whether Bill Cassidy still has a lane in a party that Donald Trump continues to dominate. Donors, primary voters and party operatives will weigh that question in a Senate race that has become a referendum on whether a Republican who broke with Trump can survive in deep-red Louisiana.

Cassidy, first elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2020, is seeking a third term while facing pressure from a Trump-backed field that includes Rep. Julia Letlow, state Treasurer John Fleming and Mark Spencer. Trump publicly backed Letlow in January 2026, and the endorsement sharpened the race into a test of whether Cassidy’s independence still has a political constituency inside Louisiana’s GOP. Trump carried Louisiana in 2024 with 60.2% of the vote, giving Cassidy little room to rely on split Republican loyalties or crossover support.

The senator’s break with Trump has shadowed him for more than five years. Cassidy voted to convict Trump on Feb. 13, 2021, in Trump’s second impeachment trial, then said, “Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person.” Trump has never let that go, and the former president’s backing of Letlow makes the intraparty fight more direct. Cassidy also drew backlash after he voted in February 2025 to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health and human services secretary, following Kennedy’s assurances about vaccine policy.

The structure of the race makes the stakes even higher. Louisiana is using a closed-party primary system for certain offices beginning in 2026 under Act 1 of the 2024 First Extraordinary Session, replacing the state’s longtime jungle primary. The Senate primary is set for May 16, 2026, with a runoff on June 27 if no candidate wins a majority. That change gives party loyalists a more decisive role in choosing the nominee, and it narrows the path for a senator like Cassidy, who has spent years trying to hold together institutional Republicans and Trump-aligned conservatives.

Recent polling and campaign reporting have shown Cassidy trailing or running close to Letlow and Fleming, underscoring how fragile his renomination effort has become. For Republicans in Louisiana, the race is not just about one Senate seat. It is a measure of whether there is still room in the party for lawmakers who crossed Trump after Jan. 6, or whether that kind of dissent now comes with an electoral price.