It still may not be enough to save his political career.The second-term senator’s vote in 2021 to convict Trump of impeachment over the U.S. Capitol riot and his recent tensions with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement loom large over his future in the Senate as primary voters head to the polls Saturday to settle on a nominee in a three-way field.
But if Republican voters are looking for guidance from national party leaders on whether to side with Cassidy, Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA), or state Treasurer John Fleming, they’re in for mixed messages.
“Hopefully all of the Great Republican People of Louisiana, which I won, BIG, three times, will be voting Bill Cassidy OUT OF OFFICE in the upcoming Republican Primary!” Trump wrote April 30 on Truth Social, some of his most recent remarks on the race.
In a rare break with Trump, Senate GOP leaders and their campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, are firmly behind their incumbent colleague.
“Bill Cassidy has been a terrific senator for Louisiana,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told the Washington Examiner. “Obviously, [NRSC Chairman] Tim Scott and I — the NRSC — our job is to do what we can to support incumbents. But obviously, the voters of Louisiana are going to make that decision.”
