{"id":210908,"date":"2026-05-17T09:16:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T09:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/louisiana-election-live-updates-sen-bill-cassidy-loses-primary-as-two-candidates-advance-to-runoff-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T09:16:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T09:16:04","slug":"louisiana-election-live-updates-sen-bill-cassidy-loses-primary-as-two-candidates-advance-to-runoff-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/louisiana-election-live-updates-sen-bill-cassidy-loses-primary-as-two-candidates-advance-to-runoff-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana election live updates: Sen. Bill Cassidy loses primary as two candidates advance to runoff – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cassidy, a two-term Republican senator, voted to convict Donald Trump on impeachment charges after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
While Cassidy did not explicitly mention Trump in his election night speech, he did appear to reference the president, especially Trump\u2019s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
\u201cWhen you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn\u2019t turn out the way you want it to. But you don\u2019t pout, you don\u2019t whine, you don\u2019t claim the election was stolen, you don\u2019t find a reason, you don\u2019t manufacture some excuse,\u201d Cassidy said. \u201cYou thank the voters for the privilege of representing the state or the country for as long as you\u2019ve had that privilege, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing right now.\u201d
\u201cLet me just set the record straight, our country is not about one individual,\u201d Cassidy later added. \u201cIt is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution. And it is the welfare of my people and my state and my country and our Constitution, to which I am loyal. And if someone doesn\u2019t understand that, and attempts to control others through using the levers of power, they are about serving themselves. They\u2019re not about serving us. And that person is not qualified to be a leader.\u201d
Cassidy also noted that he has been \u201cattacked on the internet.\u201d
\u201cInsults only bother me if they come from somebody of character and integrity, and I find that people of character and integrity don\u2019t spend their time attacking people on the internet,\u201d Cassidy said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy\u2019s primary loss tonight brings an end to a two-decade career in public office that was ultimately defined by tensions with President Donald Trump.
And when Republicans have tensions with Trump, the president usually wins.
Cassidy\u00a0failed to advance in the Republican primary in Louisiana<\/a>, as Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming are projected to face off in a June 27 runoff. The winner in the GOP contest will be the heavy favorite this fall in ruby-red Louisiana.
The result marks another trophy for Trump\u2019s collection in his\u00a0ongoing bid to oust Republicans<\/a>\u00a0perceived as disloyal to him.
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
Trump congratulated Letlow on a “fantastic race” tonight, calling the congresswoman a “spectacular person.”
“Julia Letlow is a fantastic person and, after taking care of some additional business, will make a brilliant Senator for the Great People of Louisiana, a State that I love, helped make prosperous with my Energy Policies and everything else, and won six times in a row, including Primaries,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. <\/a>
Minutes after that post went live, Trump posted again to celebrate Cassidy’s loss.
“Bill Cassidy, after falsely using his ‘relationship’ with me during his political career, and winning Elections because of it, voted to impeach me on preposterous charges that were fake then, and now, are criminally insane!” Trump wrote in the post. <\/a>
“His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of legend, and it\u2019s nice to see that his political career is OVER!” the post continued. “I\u2019d like to thank the Great People of the State of Louisiana, and this Big Victory will only make me work even harder for your success, and all that comes with it.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict President Donald Trump on impeachment charges in 2021, has lost his Republican primary in Louisiana, as two challengers who had aligned with Trump advanced to a runoff.
Rep. Julia Letlow, who had Trump\u2019s endorsement in the race, will face state Treasurer John Fleming in a June 27 primary runoff, NBC News projects.
Cassidy\u2019s loss further cements Trump\u2019s grip on the GOP as the president looks to exact revenge against Republicans who have crossed him in the past. And it also means another Republican who voted to convict Trump during his 2021 impeachment will not be returning to Congress next year.
Follow live results here<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.
Cassidy is in the fight of his political life today, trying to fend off two challengers, including one who has been endorsed by Trump.
Cassidy, who is seeking a third term in the Senate, has drawn the president\u2019s ire several times over the years.
<\/span>Nicholad Kamm \/ AFP via Getty Images file<\/span>
In 2021, he was one of seven GOP senators<\/a> who voted to convict Trump during his impeachment after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The senator, who is a physician, has been vocally critical of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom he voted to confirm last year (but wavered on over Kennedy’s stance on vaccines). Trump also blamed Cassidy, who serves as chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, after the nomination of his surgeon general pick, Casey Means<\/a>, stalled.
In a TruthSocial post about Means weeks before Cassidy\u2019s primary election, the president called the senator, \u201ca very disloyal person.\u201d
Letlow will compete in a Republican Senate primary runoff in Louisiana, NBC News projects. The question is whether she\u2019ll face Cassidy or Fleming.
Letlow, who has Trump\u2019s endorsement in the race, has a wide lead over Fleming and the incumbent, who are fighting for the second spot in a June 27 runoff, since no candidate is projected to get majority support.
Read the full story here<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong>
<\/span>Tom Williams \/ CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images<\/span>
Votes cast on Saturday could further boost Letlow, but in order to win the nomination outright and avoid a primary runoff, Letlow would need to win 56% of the remaining vote, according to an analysis from the NBC News Decision Desk.
Trump\u2019s supporters tend to cast their ballots in person on Election Day, which was also evident in Indiana’s primaries earlier this month. Trump’s preferred candidates challenging Indiana state lawmakers in primaries did especially well in the Election Day vote as they went on to their victories.
Letlow is ahead in most parishes that have reported votes so far, but she’s doing especially well in the northeast part of the state, where her congressional district is.
Fleming is also doing best in his old congressional district, leading in a handful of northwestern counties.
Cassidy’s strength is in some of the big population centers in the southeastern part of Louisiana, as well as in the Baton Rouge area. But he’s running third in most places.
Cassidy stood by his vote to convict Trump in 2021 during an interview this evening, despite him facing the most difficult primary of his career in that vote’s wake.
“You may go back and flagellate yourself over decisions in the past. I do not. I move on,” Cassidy said in an interview on Fox News.
The senator added that he continues to work with the Trump administration even as the president has endorsed Letlow.
“Actually, after the president endorsed my opponent, his team called my office to work on judicial appointments,” Cassidy said. “I\u2019m not saying the president likes me. You don\u2019t have to like somebody to work together for the good of our country and for the good of my state.”
Cassidy said voters need to know this election “is about the future of our state.”
“Do you want somebody who is focused and fixated on doing good for you, or doing well for themselves?” Cassidy said.
“I do good for my state, she’s done pretty well for herself, vote for the person doing good for your state,” the senator continued.
Cassidy is trailing both Letlow and Fleming with about 15% of the expected vote in. Letlow is at 45%, followed by Fleming at 28% and Cassidy at 24% with more than 43,000 votes counted so far.
If no candidate wins a majority of the vote to win the primary outright, the top two vote-getters advance to June 27 runoff.
After the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Louisiana v. Callais<\/a> and Louisiana\u2019s subsequent decision to suspend their House primary elections <\/a>while state officials draw a new map, lawmakers there earlier this week advanced<\/a> a new congressional district map that would give Republicans the advantage in one additional House district.
Currently, Louisiana\u2019s House district map includes four GOP members of Congress and two Democratic members of Congress. The new map would grant the state a GOP advantage in five House district, leaving Democrats the advantage in just one.
The proposed map still needs full approval from the state Senate and the state House to go into effect.
Polls closed at 9 p.m. ET in Louisiana \u2014 soon, we’ll see how Cassidy and his challengers are faring as the state starts to tally votes.
Follow live results here<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong>
<\/span>A polling location at the East Bank Regional Library in Metairie, La. on Saturday.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Wayan Barre \/ Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/span>
At a seafood restaurant in Baton Rouge, Cassidy asked Louisianans face-to-face for their vote in today\u2019s Republican primary election.\u00a0\u00a0
He worked the room with a non-alcoholic beer in tow \u2014 shaking hands and making his signature joke: if you\u2019re voting for him, the election is today, and if you\u2019re voting for someone else, keep drinking and get a hotel room to \u201csleep it off.\u201d
Asked by reporters about Trump calling him a \u201csleazebag\u201d and a \u201cdisloyal disaster\u201d on social media<\/a> this morning, Cassidy said, \u201cHe\u2019s not a voter in Louisiana. I\u2019ve got to be concerned about my state.\u201d
The two-term senator again criticized Landry for changing state primaries from \u201cjungle\u201d all-party races to more traditional party primaries ahead of Cassidy\u2019s race. He asserted that the closed primary system is making it more difficult for unaffiliated voters to vote for him.
\u201cVoters are confused,\u201d Cassidy said as he showed reporters texts from his personal phone. \u201cThis is coming to my phone because think of how many people have my phone relative to those voting. And I\u2019m getting these messages.\u201d
Cassidy said he feels \u201creally good\u201d about tonight, and will \u201ctake whoever comes\u201d between his primary opponents, Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming, in a possible runoff.
Fleming told attendees at his election eve rally that he is the \u201csole conservative\u201d in today\u2019s primary race against Cassidy and Letlow.\u00a0
Fleming, who served as Trump\u2019s deputy chief of staff during his first term, said the president did not endorse him because he was \u201cunder the control\u201d of Landry, the first-term governor who is also backing Letlow.
<\/span>Wayan Barre \/ Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/span>
\u201cI don\u2019t think he wants to admit he was wrong about it,\u201d Fleming said of Trump throwing his support behind Letlow. \u201cWhy would he endorse her and not someone like me? Because it\u2019s a little embarrassing, right?\u201d he added.\u00a0
Fleming slammed Cassidy for his vote to convict Trump during the post-Jan. 6 impeachment trial, warning that Cassidy would turn on Trump again if re-elected.\u00a0
But most of Fleming\u2019s focus was on Letlow, who he criticized for her past support of\u00a0diversity, equity, and inclusion, her late disclosure<\/a> of personal stock trades, and what he called her \u201cweak\u201d campaign platform.
\u201cI do feel confident that I will be in the runoff,\u201d Fleming told NBC News before the event. \u201cEither Letlow or Cassidy, I\u2019m happy to take on either one of them.\u201d
In a post on Truth Social this morning, the president reiterated his support for Cassidy’s challenger, Rep. Julia Letlow, and called the incumbent Louisiana senator “disloyal.”
“Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is a disloyal disaster. His entire past campaign for the Senate was about ‘TRUMP,’ how he\u2019s with me all the way, and then, after winning, he turned around and voted to IMPEACH me for something that has now proven to be total \u201cbullshit!\u201d Trump wrote, citing Cassidy’s 2021 impeachment conviction vote.
Trump added this morning, “He knew that at the time, but didn\u2019t care. Bill Cassidy is a sleazebag, a terrible guy, who is BAD FOR LOUISIANA. Now he\u2019s going to get CLOBBERED, hopefully, in today\u2019s BIG election, by two great people!!! VOTE TODAY FOR JULIA L. She Is a winner who will NEVER let you down.”
Multiple Louisiana voters who cast ballots in the GOP primary at a Baton Rouge polling place Saturday described themselves as voting for or against Cassidy, rather than in support of another candidate. And those voting against Cassidy zeroed in on his vote to convict Trump’s during the Jan. 6 impeachment trial.\u00a0
\u201cHe tried to impeach Trump, and Trump helped him get elected. That\u2019s pretty low,\u201d said Elias Jacob FaKouri, who backed Fleming. \u201cIt is time for him to go. I mean, until he did that, I didn\u2019t know any better, and yes, I voted for him, but since I\u2019ve seen that, no.\u201d
Asked if he felt Cassidy betrayed the president, Jason Fontenot, another Fleming supporter, said, \u201cSo much so that I\u2019m here to vote him out more than to vote someone in.\u201d
\u201cYou don\u2019t go side with the other Democrats, and you think you\u2019re gonna be politically good in the future, and think that\u2019s gonna be okay for us to let you back in here in Louisiana,\u201d he added.\u00a0
<\/span>Election commissioners preparing voting equipment at a polling location in New Orleans on Saturday. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span> Wayan Barre \/ Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/span>
Those supporting Cassidy praised the two-term senator for making \u201cindependent decisions\u201d rather than toeing the party line.\u00a0
\u201cIt shows that he\u2019s less influenced by a party, which I like,\u201d said Donny Gutierrez. \u201cI think we need a lot more of that.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s important to have members of a party that are willing to stand up to leadership, so that a party does not conform to national interests only and actually represent the state,\u201d Matthew Mueller said.\u00a0
Cassidy\u2019s political career is at stake on Saturday as Louisiana voters weigh in on the Republican for the first time since he voted to convict President Donald Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial.
Cassidy acknowledged in an interview with NBC News last month that his impeachment vote \u201cmight\u201d be a liability in the race. But he insisted he works well with Trump and highlighted his record of getting legislation passed and signed into law, drawing a contrast with his opponents. He also has the backing of Senate GOP leadership.
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
<\/span>Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., in Baton Rouge earlier this month.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Tyler Kaufman \/ Getty Images<\/span>
Louisiana last month decided to delay House primary elections<\/a>, which would have been held today.
The decision to postpone the primaries came in the wake of the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Louisiana v. Callais<\/a>, which struck down the current congressional district lines in the state. Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry said that suspending the primaries would allow state lawmakers to take time to redraw the congressional district maps.
The court\u2019s decision struck down parts of the Voting Rights Act that were used to draw some congressional districts across the South where Black voters could elect their candidate of choice.
Multiple states, including Alabama and Louisiana, have said they\u2019ll redraw their congressional district lines in ways that could benefit Republicans in November\u2019s midterms and future elections.
Amid the president\u2019s ongoing feud<\/a> with Cassidy, Trump has endorsed one of his opponents in today\u2019s Republican primary.
<\/span>Tom Williams \/ CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images<\/span>
Letlow was first elected to the House in 2021, succeeding her husband, who died of Covid before he was sworn into office. She\u2019s repeatedly touted her endorsement<\/a> from Trump in TV ads leading up to Election Day, attacking Cassidy and a third candidate in the primary \u2014 state treasurer John Fleming \u2014 as \u201cnever Trumpers<\/a>.\u201d
The presence of three candidates in today\u2019s primary could mean that none of them wins a majority of the votes today. In that case, the top two performing candidates will head to a runoff on June 27. The winner of the runoff will be the GOP nominee for Senate in November\u2019s general election.
Polls close in Louisiana at 9 p.m. ET tonight.\u00a0
NBC News<\/p>\n

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Cassidy, a two-term Republican senator, voted to convict Donald Trump on impeachment charges after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.While Cassidy did not explicitly mention Trump in his election night speech, he did appear to reference the president, especially Trump\u2019s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.\u201cWhen you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":210909,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-210908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}