Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, was defeated in his state’s Senate primary. Trump recruited and backed Rep. Julia Letlow in the contest, and Cassidy finished third in the three-way race, according to the Associated Press. Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming will advance to a June 27 runoff.
The outcome was the latest sign of Trump’s sway over Republican primaries. The former president publicly urged voters to oust Cassidy for his impeachment vote, posting scathing comments on his platform and celebrating the senator’s apparent political end. Cassidy’s loss follows a string of Republican officials who faced repercussions after breaking with Trump over January 6 or other high-profile fights; some, like Liz Cheney, have also lost their seats or chosen to step down.
In his concession, Cassidy did not attack the results. He used the moment to counsel against challenging or denying election outcomes, saying elected officials should thank voters for the chance to serve rather than claim fraud. At the same time, he suggested he would not quietly fade from public life.
For many primary voters, Cassidy’s vote to convict felt like a betrayal of Trump and of the party’s base. Supporters of Letlow said Trump’s endorsement was decisive; at campaign events, voters described loyalty to Trump as a top priority. Letlow, a former college administrator who won a 2021 special House election after her husband’s death, argued Cassidy had abandoned Louisiana voters who backed Trump overwhelmingly.
Cassidy pointed to his legislative record — including his work on the Senate health committee and his role in negotiating parts of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — to defend his tenure. He also sought to cast Letlow as too liberal on issues like diversity, equity and inclusion, even though her record in Congress has generally aligned with Trump-era priorities, including opposition to DEI programs and support for parental oversight in schools.
The race was affected by a recent change to Louisiana’s primary process. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry moved to close the state’s traditionally open primary, a change that prevented Democrats from participating in the Republican contest and likely altered the electorate that decided Cassidy’s fate.
Cassidy’s defeat marks the first time a Republican senator aided by Trump’s opposition has been unseated with the former president’s active intervention. Earlier this spring Trump successfully targeted state legislators in Indiana who resisted his redistricting push, illustrating a broader campaign to punish perceived disloyalty.
Nationally, several of the Republican senators who voted to convict Trump chose to retire rather than seek reelection; others, like Susan Collins, face reelection fights under different calculations. Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski retained her seat in 2022, helped by that state’s nonpartisan primary system.
Political watchers will look next to other primaries, including a heated GOP contest in Kentucky where Rep. Thomas Massie, who has clashed with Trump at times, faces a Trump-backed challenger. Those races will further gauge whether Trump’s endorsements or his opposition carry more weight with Republican voters.
Since casting his impeachment vote, Cassidy has tried to strike a balance between criticizing Trump’s actions around Jan. 6 and cooperating on policy where their interests align. He also attracted attention for backing the confirmation process for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead HHS despite saying he had concerns about Kennedy’s views on vaccines.
Freed from an immediate reelection campaign, Cassidy could become a more outspoken critic of Trump in the Senate’s next session, a path taken by other Republicans who fell out with the former president. He closed his remarks to supporters by invoking a broader civic principle: the country should not revolve around one person, and leaders who seek to control through power are serving themselves, not the public.