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President Donald Trump’s commitment to the GOP and the strength of his endorsement in the Republican nomination races faced the latest test on Saturday, as Louisiana held its first US Senate election.
Six weeks after denying GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy a third six-year term in the Senate, Republican voters in the staunchly red Gulf Coast state will choose between Rep. Julia Letlow and county Treasurer John Fleming for the now open position.
Letlow’s victory in the GOP race would be another victory for Trump as he works to fill the halls of Congress with loyal lawmakers for his final two years in the White House. But a Fleming win would be Trump’s third high-profile setback in this spring’s Republican primaries.
Five years after she voted to acquit Trump in his second impeachment trial, Cassidy was sent packing.
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Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana punches a supporter during a campaign stop at a gun shop and shooting range in Baton Rouge on May 15, 2026, the night before the state Senate primary. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Letlow, who was endorsed by Trump even before he entered the race in January, received 45% of the first-place vote, while Fleming received about 28% and Cassidy received less than 25%. With no candidate breaking 50% of the vote, Letlow and Fleming advanced to a runoff for the Republican nomination and Cassidy became the first Republican nominee to lose the nomination since Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana in 2012.
Trump, celebrating Cassidy’s defeat, said on social media that “it’s great to see that his political career is OVER!”
Cassidy, in a speech to his supporters after the concession, criticized Trump, saying, “When you participate in a democracy, sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to. But you don’t walk out, you don’t whine. You don’t say the election was stolen… You don’t make excuses.”
President Donald Trump stands with Rep. Julia Letlow during the Congressional Ball at the White House Grand Foyer in Washington, DC, on Dec. 11, 2025. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Letlow, who is also supported by the Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, who is a close friend of Trump, won his congressional seat in 2021, after the death of her husband, Luke Letlow, six days after he was sworn in to the US House after his victory in the 2020 election in the position he now holds. He has 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 proven to be a very active figure in the GOP Senate primary.
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The GOP nominee will be considered the front-runner in the midterm elections against either farmer Jamie Davis or Navy veteran Gary Crockett, who are facing Democratic Senate.
The brute force of the president’s endorsement power was on display in the GOP primaries over the past two months, when candidates ousted incumbents in the Indiana, Kentucky and Texas contests, as well as in the Louisiana primary.
But Trump’s support nationally and in the Republican primaries came up a few weeks ago when his last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to replace Gov. Kim Reynolds’ retirement was not enough to propel the three-time conference champion to victory.
Feenstra was cut short by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and political strategist who once supported the political wings of MAHA – an acronym for the Make America Healthy Again organization associated with Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservation organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk.
Zach Lahn raises his fist in celebration after defeating his primary opponent in the Iowa GOP primary race on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Zach Lahn for Governor via Facebook)
The president resurfaced three weeks ago in South Carolina, as Lt. Gov. Trump supporter Pam Evette finished first in the GOP gubernatorial primary and longtime Trump supporter Sen.
Graham, who was endorsed by Trump, was facing serious challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who was targeting the congressman over his support for the war on Iran. Lynch was supported by some MAGA leaders who were critical of the president.
Two weeks ago, they were elected to support Trump he won two out of three top races in Georgia and Alabama, and push back against a billionaire businessman who has spent more than $100 million of his own money to boost his campaign.
Rep. Barry Moore, a member of the House Freedom Caucus and a longtime Trump supporter endorsed by the president, comfortably defeated challenger Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL sniper who was backed by some top right-wing names, in Alabama’s deeply red GOP Senate race.
In the battleground state of Georgia’s Republican Senate race, Trump’s 11th-hour endorsement helped Rep. Mike Collins, MAGA champion, to defeat college football coach Derek Dooley, who was backed by Gov. The famous Brian Kemp.
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Collins will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in the general election in a race between the minorities that could determine whether the GOP holds its slim majority in the chamber during the terms.
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But in the Georgia Gubernatorial Runoff, Trump supports, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who was also sponsored by Kemp this past weekend, was defeated by billionaire businessman Rick Jackson, who ran as an outsider.
On Tuesday, first-time Trump endorser Anthony Constantino, a businessman and former boxer, defeated Robert Smullen, a retired Marine Corps colonel and New York assemblyman backed by the state party, in an upstate New York race to win the GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Meanwhile, in the Republican presidential election in South Carolina, Trump did not lose.
This is because, apart from supporting Evette, he also gave a last minute endorsement to the country’s Attorney General Alan Wilson, who ended up winning the race with flying colours.
