Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) announced her bid for U.S. Senate Tuesday, challenging Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) after President Donald Trump backed her.
“It’s an honor to share with you, after the endorsement and encouragement from the President of the United States, Donald Trump, that I will officially be announcing my candidacy for the U.S. Senate,” Letlow said at Business Report‘s Power Breakfast on Tuesday morning, which Cassidy also attended.
She wrote on X, sharing a video announcing her campaign for Senate, “Today, I am announcing my candidacy for the United States Senate to ensure the nation we leave our children is safer and stronger. Louisiana deserves a conservative Senator who will not waver. I am honored to have President Trump’s endorsement and trust. Let’s Geaux!”
Letlow ran for Congress after her husband, Luke Letlow, died from coronavirus weeks after being elected to Congress in late 2020.
The congresswoman’s decision to run for Senate came after Trump said he would back her candidacy should she decide to run for Congress’s upper chamber.
Letlow is now entering the race against Cassidy and State Treasurer John Fleming, who entered the Senate race in late 2024.
“I know Julia well, have seen her tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and she is a TOTAL WINNER!” Trump wrote on Saturday. “Should she decide to enter this Race Julia Letlow has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!”
Cassidy, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, is seeking a third term in office. He was once closely aligned with Trump; however, he voted to impeach Trump over the January 6th protests, believing that the president incited an insurrection. Cassidy also worked with Democrats on the so-called infrastructure bill, which contained few conservative victories.
“When the Democrats’ Impeachment Hoax started, this Lamebrain Senator actually voted against me,” the president wrote in 2024.
“He thought it was so ‘cool,’ until he got home, and was literally pelted with everything that could be used for such an inglorious happening.”
Cassidy wrote about Letlow’s entry into the race:
Congresswoman Letlow called me this morning to say she was running. She said she respected me and that I had done a good job. I will continue to do a good job when I win re-election. I am a conservative who wakes up every morning thinking about how to make Louisiana and the United States a better place to live.
