---
title: "Trump Completes His Louisiana Takeover as Julia Letlow Wins the Senate Runoff"
description: "Rep. Julia Letlow won Louisiana's Republican Senate runoff on Saturday, sealing President Trump's years-long campaign to drive Sen. Bill Cassidy from the party after Cassidy voted to convict him in 2021."
category: "Politics"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/politics
author: "Anjali Rao"
published: 2026-06-28T08:43:43.000Z
updated: 2026-06-28T08:43:43.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/trump-completes-his-louisiana-takeover-as-julia-letlow-wins-the-senate-runoff
tags: ["Louisiana", "Senate 2026", "Julia Letlow", "Bill Cassidy", "Trump", "midterms"]
---
# Trump Completes His Louisiana Takeover as Julia Letlow Wins the Senate Runoff

Rep. Julia Letlow won Louisiana's Republican Senate runoff on Saturday, sealing President Trump's years-long campaign to drive Sen. Bill Cassidy from the party after Cassidy voted to convict him in 2021.

When Sen. Bill Cassidy voted to convict Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial in February 2021, Louisiana Republicans censured him within days. More than five years later, the reckoning is complete.

## Letlow wins the runoff

Rep. Julia Letlow, a two-term congresswoman from Louisiana's 5th District backed by Trump, won the state's Republican Senate runoff on Saturday, June 27, defeating state Treasurer John Fleming, [CNN projected](https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/27/politics/louisiana-senate-republican-runoff-trump-letlow-fleming-cassidy). The Associated Press also called the race for Letlow, [according to CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/louisiana-gop-senate-primary-runoff-letlow-fleming/).

The two had advanced from a May 16 primary in which no candidate cleared the majority Louisiana requires to win outright. Letlow led that first round with roughly 45 percent of the vote to Fleming's 28 percent, [the reporting shows](https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2026/06/27/letlow-wins-louisiana-senate-runoff-succeed-cassidy-who-lost-his-primary/).

## How Cassidy was ousted

The most consequential name on the May ballot was the one that didn't make the runoff. Cassidy, seeking a third term, finished third in the primary and was eliminated — a defeat that made him a casualty of his own impeachment vote. He was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump over the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and the only one to face Louisiana's voters with Trump back in the White House.

Trump endorsed Letlow and made clear throughout the campaign that he viewed the seat as a test of his grip on the state's GOP. With Letlow's win, that grip looks total: a Republican who broke with him publicly will be replaced by one who ran explicitly as his ally.

## The general election

Letlow now advances to the November 3 general election as a heavy favorite. Trump carried Louisiana by more than 20 points in 2024, and the state has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly two decades. If she holds the seat in the fall, Letlow would become the first Republican woman to represent Louisiana in the U.S. Senate.

## A pattern across the map

The Louisiana result fits a broader story of the 2026 cycle, in which Trump's endorsement has functioned as a near-decisive advantage in Republican primaries across deep-red states. Cassidy — a physician who once chaired the Senate's health committee and at times worked across the aisle — was among the chamber's last remaining Republicans willing to cross Trump on the record. His exit removes one of those voices and underscores how thoroughly the party's primary electorate has aligned behind the president.

For Cassidy, whose term runs into January 2027, Saturday confirmed what his state party signaled in 2021: in today's Louisiana GOP, there was no longer a path for a senator who voted to convict Donald Trump.

## Sources

- [Trump-backed Julia Letlow wins Louisiana GOP Senate runoff, CNN projects](https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/27/politics/louisiana-senate-republican-runoff-trump-letlow-fleming-cassidy)
- [Letlow wins Louisiana Senate runoff to succeed Cassidy, who lost his primary](https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2026/06/27/letlow-wins-louisiana-senate-runoff-succeed-cassidy-who-lost-his-primary/)
- [Letlow defeats Fleming in Louisiana GOP Senate runoff for Cassidy's seat, AP projects](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/louisiana-gop-senate-primary-runoff-letlow-fleming/)