Julia Letlow

Julia Letlow is a Republican congresswoman representing Louisiana's 5th congressional district and the frontrunner in Louisiana's open Senate race following the 17 May 2026 primary. She received 44.8% of the vote in that primary, with state treasurer John Fleming second on 28.3% and incumbent Bill Cassidy eliminated with 24.8%. Trump endorsed Letlow. Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump at his 2021 impeachment trial, became the first elected incumbent senator to lose renomination since Richard Lugar in 2012. The Letlow-Fleming runoff is scheduled for 27 June 2026.

Letlow was first elected to Congress in a 2021 special election following the death of her husband Luke Letlow, who had won Louisiana's 5th District in November 2020 but died before taking office. She became the first Republican woman elected to Congress from Louisiana. In May 2026, Fellowship PAC, a crypto-industry-aligned committee, disclosed a $350,000 independent expenditure supporting her congressional seat as part of a broader post-Q1 spend targeting House Republicans in the Deep South. The pro-Letlow Accountability Project super PAC committed more than $6 million in independent expenditures ahead of the runoff, reported as aligned with Governor Jeff Landry; Fleming has run on almost no outside money.

A Rigamer poll taken 15-16 June put Letlow at 40.2% against Fleming's 38.2%, inside the margin of error, collapsing a lead that a Kaplan survey in early June had measured at 52 to 37. Letlow declined Fleming's challenge to three debates, citing time with voters. The Louisiana Senate race carries broader significance for the Republican Party: Cassidy's elimination alongside Ken Paxton's defeat of John Cornyn in Texas on 26 May means two senior establishment Republican senators lost renomination within twelve days.