Louisiana’s Letlow prepares Senate bid after Trump endorsement

Rep. Julia Letlow is preparing to jump into the Louisiana Senate race against GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy after President Donald Trump publicly endorsed her, according to three people granted anonymity to disclose a yet-to-be-announced bid.

Letlow is expected to announce her decision as soon as Monday, according to two of the people, though the date isn’t set in stone.

The move comes after Trump upended Cassidy’s reelection bid on Saturday night, posting on Truth Social that Letlow, if she ran, would have his endorsement. Trump officials have privately encouraged her to run, but Letlow previously told Trump officials she would need the president’s public endorsement to get into the already crowded Republican primary field.

Letlow didn’t explicitly declare her candidacy in the wake of Trump’s endorsement, but signaled in a post on X that she was likely to get into the race.

“I’m honored to have President Trump’s endorsement and trust,” she wrote. “My mission is clear: to ensure the nation our children inherit is safer and stronger. This United States Senate seat belongs to the people of Louisiana, because we deserve conservative leadership that will not waver.”

Trump’s decision to endorse Letlow ends months of speculation among Republicans about if he would get into the race against Cassidy.

People close to Letlow last week were expecting a public endorsement from Trump in the coming days, according to two people.

But as the filing deadline drew closer, some fellow GOP lawmakers believed she would ultimately not get in. Cassidy has been telling fellow Republicans for months that senior White House officials had pledged to him that the president would stay neutral in his race — a promise first reported by POLITICO last year.

Yet even some fellow GOP senators were skeptical of that given Trump’s mercurial moods. Trump had also privately temperature checked some GOP lawmakers on their views about Letlow, according to one person with knowledge of the outreach.

Trump also called Majority Leader John Thune on Friday and told him that while he had not made a final decision, he was likely to endorse Letlow, according to two people with knowledge of the conversation. Thune encouraged Trump during the call to support Cassidy, the two people said, pointing to the president needing his vote this year and Cassidy’s role as HELP chair, which gives him a role in advancing Trump’s health care push.

Senate GOP leaderships and the Senate GOP campaign arm are supporting Cassidy, with Thune campaigning with him in Louisiana late last week.

Trump didn’t directly mention Cassidy in his Truth Social post, instead making it clear that Letlow would have his backing if she gets in.

“Should she decide to enter this RACE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Julia Letlow has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!”

Cassidy is seeking his third term in the Senate. He has drawn criticism from Trump at times, particularly over his 2021 vote to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. But Cassidy has touted his working relationship with Trump over the past year, including supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead HHS and vowing last week to help enact part of Trump’s health care framework.

“I'm proudly running for re-election as a principled conservative who gets things done for the people of Louisiana. If Congresswoman Letlow decides to run I am confident I will win,” Cassidy posted on X after Trump endorsed Letlow.

Republicans for months have already been privately looking at candidates to replace Letlow in the House, with state Sen. Rick Edmonds at the top of the list, according to three people.

David Cohen contributed to this report.