Trump-backed Indiana Senate candidate wins primary
President Donald Trump continued to exert influence in Indiana’s Republican primary. At least five of the seven Republican senators he opposed lost the nomination.
- Rep. Julia Letlow, backed by President Donald Trump, is expected to be the top vote-getter in the Louisiana Senate primary.
- Cassidy was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, but he lost Trump’s support.
- President Trump has been actively supporting challengers to his Republican critics ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
President Donald Trump scored another victory on May 16 with the goal of ridding the Republican Party of critics and dissidents ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
According to Reuters and NBC News, President Trump’s endorsed candidate, Rep. Julia Letlow, is expected to be the top vote-getter in the Louisiana Senate Republican primary over incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy.
Polls show Mr. Cassidy, a two-term senator, trailing Mr. Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming in most Republican races.
Preliminary results show Cassidy, a 68-year-old physician, came in third place behind Fleming, a former Trump administration official in his first term. With more than 90% of Pelican State’s votes counted, Fleming had about 28% of the vote, Cassidy had about 25%, and LeRoux held steady with about 44% of the vote.
Under Louisiana law, if no candidate passes the 50% threshold, the top two candidates will run again in a June 27 runoff.
Cassidy will be the first Republican incumbent to face Trump’s notorious wrath and lose reelection outright this year. Those who have publicly criticized the president or opposed the candidates and actions of his returning administration, such as Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, are choosing to retire in 2026.
Cassidy’s record is highly regarded among conservatives, but he fell out with Trump after he was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict him during his second impeachment trial, which stemmed from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot led by the president’s supporters at the U.S. Capitol.
He also criticized administration officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., during hearings and questioned the qualifications of Casey Means, the administration’s nominee for Surgeon General, who was forced to resign after criticism over lack of support for vaccines.
President Trump’s so-called revenge tour of the nation’s Republican primaries comes as poll numbers, dominated by voters outside the coalition, dwindle.
Rising gas prices and an unpopular war in Iran have infuriated prominent MAGA figures online, but when it comes to Republican elections, the president has been able to bash his critics in Congress and recalcitrant members of red states.
The president and his allies will now turn their attention to the May 19 Kentucky primary, but a new poll released last week found that another Republican at odds with the White House’s views, Rep. Thomas Massie, is trailing Trump-supporting primary candidates.
‘Dishonest disaster’: President Trump slams Cassidy as voters go to the polls
As Pelican State voters rushed to the polls, President Trump again called out Cassidy, further emphasizing his determination to eliminate his Republican opponent. He called the sitting senator a “scumbag” and a “terrible bastard” who is evil to the country.
“Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is a disloyal disaster,” President Trump said in a May 16 social media post.
Mr. Cassidy was friendly to Mr. Trump and received the president’s support in the run-up to his 2020 reelection bid. But things took a turn for the worse when Louisiana Republicans voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial.
“I don’t think President Trump likes me that much,” Cassidy told reporters last week. “But we work together really well.”
