Trump-backed Julia Letlow wins Louisiana GOP Senate runoff over Fleming
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He was not on the ballot, but President Donald Trump emerged as the winner of the GOP Senate runoffs in Louisiana.
That’s because Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow defeated State Treasurer John Fleming to win the Republican nomination, the Associated Press reported Saturday.
Six weeks after Trump’s targeted GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy was rejected for a third six-year term in the Senate, a majority of Republican voters in the red-hot Gulf Coast state backed Letlow. His victory in the runoff is seen as another triumph for Trump, who has struggled to fill the halls of Congress with loyal lawmakers during his final two years in the White House. And it’s another sign of the strength of Trump’s support in the Republican primaries.
Cassidy was sent packing five years after voting to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial.
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Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana punches a supporter during a campaign stop at a gun retailer and shooting range in Baton Rouge, May 15, 2026, on the eve of the state’s Senate primary. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Trump reacted to Letlow’s victory in a Truth Social post, calling Saturday’s result “great news.”
“Julia Letlow WON in Louisiana, decisively defeating a very strong and smart opponent,” Trump wrote. “Congratulations to Julia. She will truly be a GREAT Senator!”
Letlow, who was supported by Trump even before entering the race in January, took first place ahead of Fleming by double digits, while Cassidy came in third. Because no candidate received 50% of the vote, Letlow and Fleming competed in a runoff for the Republican nomination, making Cassidy the first elected Republican senator to lose re-election since Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana in 2012.
Celebrating Cassidy’s defeat, Trump said on social media, “Good to see your political career is over!” he said.
After conceding, Cassidy took a swipe at Trump in a speech to his supporters, saying: “When you participate in democracy, sometimes things don’t go your way. But you don’t sulk, you don’t whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen… You don’t make excuses.”
President Donald Trump stands with Representative Julia Letlow during the Congressional Ball at the White House Grand Foyer on December 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Letlow, who was backed by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a prominent Trump ally, won the congressional seat in 2021 after her husband, Luke Letlow, died five days before he was sworn in to the U.S. House of Representatives after his election victory in 2020. He emphasized his support for Trump throughout his Senate campaign.
Fleming, who spent eight years in Congress before serving as White House deputy chief of staff during Trump’s first term, has argued that he is the most conservative candidate in the GOP Senate primaries.
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Letlow will be considered the clear front-runner in the midterm elections against farmer Jamie Davis or Navy veteran Gary Crockett, who face each other in the Democratic second round.
The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past two months, as his candidates toppled incumbents he targeted in Louisiana primaries as well as showdowns in Indiana, Kentucky and Texas.
But Trump’s streak of endorsements in statewide and congressional Republican primaries was snapped three weeks ago when his last-minute endorsement of GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds in the race to replace retiring Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa was not enough to lift the three-term congressman to victory.
There was little difference between Feenstra and Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist backed by the political wings of MAHA (an acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.
Zach Lahn raises his fist in celebration after defeating his primary opponent in Iowa’s GOP gubernatorial race on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Zach Lahn for the Governor via Facebook)
The president met in South Carolina three weeks ago; Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Pam Akşamte finished first in the GOP gubernatorial primary, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime Trump ally, won a majority of the vote in the Republican Senate primary and avoided a runoff.
Graham, who is backed by Trump, was facing primary challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who targeted the senator for his support for the war in Iran. Lynch was supported by some MAGA leaders who were critical of the president.
Trump-backed candidates two weeks ago won two out of three In the top races in Georgia and Alabama, we had a setback that befell a billionaire businessman who spent more than $100 million of his own money to support his campaign.
Rep. Barry Moore, a House Freedom Caucus member and longtime Trump supporter backed by the president, easily defeated his rival Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL sniper backed by some top figures on the right, in Alabama’s deep-red GOP Senate runoff.
In the battleground Georgia Republican Senate runoffs, Trump’s 11th-hour endorsement helped MAGA champion Rep. Mike Collins to victory over former college football coach Derek Dooley, who is backed by popular conservative Gov. Brian Kemp.
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Collins will face Democratic Senator. Jon Ossoff It’s one of a handful of races in the general election that will decide whether the GOP can maintain its slim majority in the House in the midterm elections.
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But in the GOP gubernatorial runoff in Georgia, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, the Trump-backed candidate who was also backed by Kemp last week, lost to billionaire businessman Rick Jackson, who was running as an outsider.
On Tuesday, Trump-endorsed first-time candidate Anthony Constantino, a businessman and former boxer, defeated Robert Smullen, a retired Marine Corps colonel and New York Assembly member who has the support of the state party, in the race to replace retiring GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik in upstate New York.
Meanwhile, Trump couldn’t lose in the Republican gubernatorial runoffs in South Carolina.
Because in addition to backing Akşam, he also gave a last-minute endorsement to State’s Attorney Alan Wilson, who won the showdown by a landslide.
