Congresswoman Julia Letlow replaces her late husband Luke in the House of Representatives.
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Rep. Julia Letlow joined Congress in 2021, replacing her husband Luke a year after he died from complications from COVID-19. He never took office representing Louisiana’s rural 5th Congressional District, where they lived.
On May 16, Mr. Letlow, 45, defeated incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy in his home state’s Senate primary, advancing to the June runoff.
She won President Donald Trump’s support in a race that tested Republican loyalty to the president. That’s largely because Cassidy voted to convict Trump in 2021 during his second impeachment trial following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
After winning a special election in March 2021, LeRoux became an unexpected rising star in the Republican Party. It’s rare for a politician’s widow to replace their spouse, but Letlow served as the representative for Doris Matsui, the California congresswoman who won a special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Bob Matsui in 2005.
And just five years ago, Mr. Letlow, with no prior elected political experience, boasted a background in university administration before running for Congress.
Mr. Lelow received 45% of the Senate primary vote against Mr. Cassidy, state Treasurer John C. Fleming and fellow Republican challenger Mark Spencer. Since no candidate received more than the 50% total needed to win the election outright, the race heads to a runoff in accordance with Louisiana law. Leslow will face Fleming on June 27th.
President Trump encouraged Julia Letlow to remove Bill Cassidy from office
If Cassidy is one of Trump’s biggest opponents in the Senate, Letlow is the president’s favorite in Congress.
Late last year, she was summoned by President Trump to the White House Christmas gala, where he praised her engagement to new boyfriend Kevin Ainsworth. Lelow later shared photos from the celebration and wrote on social media: “I wish I could spend the rest of my life with Mr. Ainsworth.”
“Best White House Christmas/Engagement Party ever,” Letlow said in the post.
A month later, Trump encouraged Letlow on Truth Social to launch a campaign to unseat Cassidy. “Julia Letlow has my full and complete support if she decides to enter this race,” President Trump wrote on January 17. “Run, Julia, run!!!” Trump said that if elected, Retro would support his administration with energy development, tax cuts and deregulation.
Lelow said in a May 13 interview with USA TODAY that Cassidy “spent four years trying to undermine” the president, including briefly flirting with a third-party bid under the “no label” banner in 2024.
Like his former North Carolina colleague Thom Tillis, Cassidy has publicly criticized President Trump and his Cabinet during his second term. Cassidy, a gastroenterologist and two-term senator, criticized decisions by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after carefully voting to confirm him in 2025.
“If I had a disagreement with President Trump, I would definitely pick up the phone and call him. I believe that’s how you guys deal with it,” Lelow told USA TODAY.
Letlow, the first Republican woman elected to Congress from the state, is on track to become Louisiana’s second female representative. The first was Cassidy’s predecessor, former Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.
And if elected, Ms. Letlow will bring more than just her alliance to Mr. Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda.
Mr. Lelow’s life and path to becoming a politician was filled with sadness. According to a 2017 article in USA TODAY Network Louisiana, her younger brother, Jeremy, died at age 17 in a car accident in 2002 while he was a high school senior. Eighteen years later, she lost Luke on December 29, 2020, four days after Christmas. She is currently raising two children.
This summer, her political journey could take a new turn as a member of the U.S. Senate.
Contributor: Philip Bailey
