Cassidy, HELP Committee Chair, Loses Re-Election Bid in Louisiana Primary

Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and chair of the high chamber’s education committee, conceded his loss in the Louisiana primary Saturday. 

The incumbent placed third in a three-way race, ousted by a Trump-backed opponent, Rep. Julia Letlow, and state treasurer John Fleming, who will both advance to a June 27 runoff. 

Cassidy, who has held office since 2015, was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict and remove President Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on Capitol Hill. Since then, the president has declared Cassidy a “traitor.” Ahead of the Louisiana primary, Trump urged members of the GOP to vote for Letlow.

“His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now part of legend,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post about Cassidy. “And it’s nice to see his political career is OVER.” (Cassidy was elected to the Senate in 2014, before Trump’s entry into national politics. Trump did not endorse either Cassidy or his primary opponent in 2014.)

Despite Trump’s abysmal approval ratings, the results signify the president’s continued stronghold over the Republican Party, some lawmakers argued.

“You can disagree with President Trump but if you try to destroy him you’re going to lose,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “It’s just a reality.”

Cassidy intends to remain in office for the remainder of his term. So far, it is unclear who will succeed him as education committee chair when he leaves the Senate. For now, Cassidy has suggested that he hopes to make the most of the time he has left in office, although he has not laid out any specific plans. After Saturday’s vote, he made it a point to stress that unlike Trump, he accepts the election results.

“You don’t pout, you don’t whine, you don’t claim that the election was stolen,” Cassidy said as he conceded. “You thank the voters for the privilege of representing the state or the country for as long as you’ve had that privilege. And that’s what I’m doing right now.”