Bill Cassidy lost his bid for another term Saturday, becoming the first sitting U.S. senator from either party to lose a primary election since 2012.

Cassidy finished third in Louisiana’s Republican Senate primary, ending his reelection campaign and marking another political victory for President Donald Trump, who had targeted the senator since Cassidy voted to convict Trump during his 2021 impeachment trial following the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Advancing to the Republican runoff were Julia Letlow, who carried Trump’s endorsement, and John Fleming, a former congressman and Trump administration aide.

Cassidy, a two-term senator and chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, captured only about one-quarter of the vote and failed to qualify for the runoff election scheduled for late June.

Political analysts pointed to continued frustration among many conservative voters over Cassidy’s impeachment vote and his skepticism regarding Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Letlow, a three-term congresswoman from north Louisiana, entered the race with strong support from Trump and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry. Her campaign also received backing from the Make America Healthy Again PAC, which reportedly spent $1 million in support of her candidacy.

Fleming built momentum through grassroots conservative support and narrowed Letlow’s lead in the closing days of the campaign.

The runoff is expected to continue an already costly and closely watched Republican battle in one of the nation’s most reliably Republican states. Early polling suggests the June contest between Letlow and Fleming could be highly competitive, though Letlow held an advantage in the first round of voting.

Source: Politico