Republican Julia Letlow projected to win Louisiana Senate seat, replacing Bill Cassidy
The gist
Republican congresswoman Julia Letlow was projected to narrowly win Louisiana's Senate race, about 50% with 100% reported.
She becomes the first Republican woman to represent Louisiana in the Senate.
How it unfolded
- 2021Cassidy was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial; Trump was acquitted 57-43.
- Jan 2026Trump encouraged Letlow, 45, to challenge Cassidy.
- May 16, 2026Cassidy lost the Republican primary, finishing third with 24.8% (99,496 votes), behind Letlow's 179,903 (44.8%) and John Fleming's 113,437 (28.3%).
Key terms
- primary
- An election in which voters of a political party choose that party's candidate for an upcoming general election.
- runoff
- A second election between the top two vote-getters when no candidate wins a majority in the first round.
- impeachment trial
- A trial that forms part of an impeachment process, used by some governments to decide whether to remove an official.
Source: Wikipedia