Overview
- Rep. Julia Letlow announced her campaign at a Baton Rouge breakfast event, with Cassidy in attendance, after receiving the president’s preemptive endorsement.
- Cassidy said he will seek a third term and expressed confidence he will win re-election, noting Letlow told him she respected his work.
- Letlow’s entry transforms an already crowded Republican field that includes state Treasurer John Fleming, state Rep. Julie Emerson, and state Sen. Blake Miguez.
- Top Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader John Thune, remain behind Cassidy, and Thune privately urged the president not to endorse Letlow.
- Cassidy’s vulnerabilities with the party’s MAGA wing, including his vote to convict in the 2021 impeachment, are central to the challenge in a strongly Republican state.