Trump-Backed Julia Letlow Launches Senate Challenge to Bill Cassidy

LEAD: Rep. Julia Letlow announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday in Baton Rouge at the Business Report Power Breakfast and in a campaign video after President Donald Trump posted a “complete and total” endorsement on Truth Social on Saturday saying she is a "TOTAL WINNER," according to her campaign and the president's post.

CONTEXT: The entry follows Cassidy's 2021 vote to convict former President Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial and a broader rupture with Trump allies that national and local outlets say has made Cassidy vulnerable to a right-wing primary challenge.

RESPONSE: Sen. Bill Cassidy said in a Tuesday statement that Letlow called him to say she was running and that "she respected me and that I had done a good job," while Letlow thanked Trump and said Louisiana "deserves a conservative Senator who will not waver," according to their public statements.

SCALE: Cassidy reported about $9.5 million in campaign cash on hand to Letlow's about $2.3 million, according to the latest Federal Election Commission filings, and State Treasurer John Fleming and state Sen. Blake Miguez have also entered the Republican field, creating a contested primary with implications for Cassidy's chairmanship of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

FORWARD: The contest will be conducted under a closed-primary system Louisiana lawmakers approved in 2024 and could send the race to a runoff if no candidate wins a majority, with some reports citing a May 16 primary and others citing an April 18 date and the National Republican Senatorial Committee signaling it may defer to the president, according to state records and a source familiar with NRSC deliberations.