Voters Decide Fate Of Senator Who Voted To Convict Trump

Louisiana Republicans voted to oust Sen. Bill Cassidy on Saturday, rejecting the incumbent who voted to convict President Donald Trump on impeachment charges.

With more than half the vote counted, Cassidy is trailing his conservative primary rivals, Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) and State Treasurer John Fleming. Trump-backed Letlow, buoyed by the president’s endorsement, currently leads the race with 45% of the vote. With no candidate clearing the 50% threshold, Letlow and Fleming will advance to a June 27 runoff. Decision Desk HQ called the race 9:56 p.m. ET.

Cassidy’s fall from grace is another sign of Trump’s enduring grip on the Republican base, as the president continues flexing his political clout to target GOP lawmakers he views as disloyal to his agenda.

Trump took one last shot at Cassidy as Louisiana headed to the polls on Saturday, urging voters to throw their support behind the incumbent Republican’s primary challenger.

“Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is a disloyal disaster,” the president wrote on Truth Social, noting that the two-term senator voted to impeach him after the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots. “Bill Cassidy is a sleazebag, a terrible guy, who is BAD FOR LOUISIANA. Now he’s going to get CLOBBERED, hopefully, in today’s BIG election, by two great people!!!”

 In January, Trump endorsed Letlow (R-LA) to replace Sen. Cassidy, who was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump after the January 6 Capitol riot.

In a February 2021 column that has since come back to haunt him politically, Cassidy wrote that Trump was “guilty” of inciting the riot and “actively subverting the peaceful transfer of power.” 

Ryan Girdusky, a conservative political consultant, called that vote the “ultimate betrayal.” 

“The impeachment vote against Trump is really what did him in; had he not voted to impeach Trump, he wouldn’t be in this position,” Girdusky said. “If they successfully had a trial against him, he would have been ineligible to run for President. So maybe that’s what Cassidy was rooting for.”

That reality, Girdusky said, pushed Trump to get involved. 

““Highly Respected America First Congresswoman, Julia Letlow, of the wonderful State of Louisiana, is a Great Star, has been from the very beginning, and only gets better!’ Trump said in a Friday Truth Social post. “Election Day is tomorrow, Saturday, May 16th. Vote for Julia Letlow — She has my Complete and Total Endorsement, and will never let you down!”

In her campaign launch, Letlow said that in “a state as conservative as ours, we shouldn’t have to wonder how our senator will vote when the pressure’s on. Louisiana deserves conservative champions, leaders who will not flinch,” The Daily Wire previously reported. The congresswoman took office in April 2021, following a special election triggered by her husband’s death.

During the campaign, Cassidy and Fleming targeted Letlow over past comments praising diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, questioning her conservative credentials.

“She’s as moderate as Bill Cassidy is,” Girdusky told The Daily Wire. “So it’s not like they’re trading a moderate for a conservative. They’re trading a moderate for a moderate, but one that Trump approved versus one that Trump didn’t approve.” 

Cassidy also faced heat for stalling some of Trump’s high-profile nominees, including Surgeon General pick Dr. Casey Means. 

A physician and chairman of the Senate health committee, Cassidy stopped short of supporting her, effectively sinking her nomination prospects — a move that infuriated MAHA supporters and the president himself.

“Bill Cassidy is a mindless avatar for his donors and a blind defender of the status quo system that is profiting from American sickness,” Calley Means, Casey Means’ brother, said on social media.

The president piled on, calling Cassidy a “very disloyal person” who “stood in the way” of RFK Jr.’s preferred nominee.

Trump, widely viewed as the GOP’s kingmaker, recently exacted revenge on a handful of Indiana Republicans who bucked his redistricting push. With Cassidy’s defeat, the White House is already shifting its attention to another bruising primary battle: backing Captain Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy SEAL, against Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District.

“It shows that it’s really about Trump,” Girdusky said. “It shows that voters have this innate belief that he has their best interests at heart, and that he is feeling the anger that they’re feeling of betrayal from the elected officials.”