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Updated on: May 16, 2026 / 11:03 PM EDT
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Washington — CBS News projects Rep. Julia Letlow and Louisiana state Treasurer John Fleming advanced to a runoff in Saturday's Senate Republican primary, knocking out incumbent GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy. Cassidy, 68, was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict President Trump in his impeachment trial after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in 2021. And although he's emphasized his cooperation with the administration in recent years, the president endorsed Letlow in January, encouraging her to challenge Cassidy for the seat. Mr. Trump took to Truth Social late Saturday night to congratulate Letlow, saying she ran "a fantastic race, beating an Incumbent Senator by Record Setting Numbers.""Letlow is a fantastic person and, after taking care of some additional business, will make a brilliant Senator for the Great People of Louisiana, a State that I love, helped make prosperous with my Energy Policies and everything else," Mr. Trump wrote.Letlow, 45, became the first Republican woman elected to represent Louisiana in Congress in 2021 after winning a special election for Louisiana's 5th Congressional District following the death of her husband, who died in 2020 from complications related to COVID-19 before he could be sworn into office. She's hammered Cassidy as disloyal to the GOP, claiming Louisiana "shouldn't have to wonder how our senator will vote when the pressure's on."Letlow had touted her endorsement from Mr. Trump, while Fleming, who worked in the first Trump administration and represented Louisiana in the U.S. House, had called himself "the only conservative MAGA Republican" in the race. In addition to his vote to impeach Mr. Trump, Cassidy has been at odds with the administration over HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s leadership, despite delivering the key vote to advance Kennedy's nomination last year. Cassidy, a medical doctor, has broken with the HHS secretary on multiple occasions, including slamming a change to the hepatitis B vaccine schedule for infants and calling for the postponement of key vaccine advisory panel meetings.
