Senator Cassidy faces tough Louisiana primary test after Trump impeachment vote

A Republican senator who broke party ranks to vote to convict former President Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial is facing a tight primary contest in Louisiana. The election, held Thursday local time, is viewed as a measure of Trump's continued sway over the GOP, despite his declining approval ratings.

Trump has endorsed Representative Julia Letlow in the Senate race. Also competing is John Fleming, currently the state treasurer. The winner of the Republican primary is all but certain to prevail in the general election in this reliably Republican state.

Cassidy was among seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump on charges of “incitement of insurrection,” linked to Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. At the time, Cassidy declared: “The Constitution and our country are more important than any individual. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty.” Despite a handful of Republican senators voting in favor, the Senate fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict Trump.

After leaving office in 2021, Trump staged a remarkable comeback, reshaping the GOP in his image. Today, most of the Republican senators who voted to convict alongside Cassidy have been defeated or chosen to leave politics. Only two moderate senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have avoided significant intraparty fallout from those votes.

During her campaign, Letlow capitalized on Cassidy’s 2021 vote, saying Louisiana residents “shouldn't have to wonder how their senator will vote when pressure mounts.”

Cassidy, a physician, has walked a delicate line during Trump’s second term. He frequently praised the administration’s policy initiatives and appeared with Trump at the White House. However, he also clashed with the administration. During confirmation hearings for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cassidy engaged in sharp debates over Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism. Later, Cassidy cast a decisive vote to confirm Kennedy after receiving assurances that Kennedy would not alter federal vaccine recommendations. In April of this year, Trump accused Cassidy of “wrecking” the nomination of Surgeon General nominee Casey Means and urged voters “to vote to get Bill Cassidy out of office.”

Polls indicate Cassidy trails both Letlow and Fleming. If no candidate secures an outright majority, the race will proceed to a runoff on June 27. The primary takes place amid a national debate over congressional redistricting, following the Supreme Court’s rejection of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.