Letlow and Davis Win Louisiana Senate Runoffs, Set Showdown
U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow (R) and Tensas Parish farmer Jamie Davis (D) won their respective party runoff elections on Saturday, June 27, setting up a November 3 general election contest for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by incumbent Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, according to WWNO (NPR New Orleans).
The Runoff Results
Letlow defeated state Treasurer John Fleming in the Republican runoff with approximately 57% of the vote (179,971 to 136,567), while Davis defeated New Orleans businessman Gary Crockett in a landslide, winning 80% of the vote (156,776 to 39,414) and carrying every parish in the state, according to The Advocate.
Davis’ victory was particularly striking: he carried all 64 parishes and all 3,722 precincts, a testament to the broad appeal of his outsider, farmer-focused campaign.
How We Got Here
The race for Cassidy’s seat has been defined by President Donald Trump’s influence and a dramatic shift in Louisiana’s electoral system. Cassidy, one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump for incitement of insurrection following the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, came in third place in the May 16 Republican primary with just 24.8% of the vote — making him the first elected incumbent senator to lose renomination since Richard Lugar in 2012.
This election is also the first Louisiana Senate contest since 2010 to use closed party primaries rather than the state’s traditional “jungle primary” system, after Gov. Jeff Landry signed House Bill 17 in January 2024.
The Candidates
Julia Letlow, who entered politics after her husband Luke died from COVID-19 complications in 2020, has become an increasingly vocal supporter of Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She received more than $1 million from MAHA PAC, a group affiliated with Kennedy. In her victory speech, Letlow thanked Trump directly, saying, “President Trump, thank you for encouraging me to get into this race, thank you for your endorsement, Louisiana loves you.”
Letlow’s top priorities include border security, growing Louisiana’s economy, and education reform centered on school choice and parents’ rights. She is already the first Republican woman to represent Louisiana in the U.S. House; a win in November would make her the first Republican woman elected to the U.S. Senate from the state.
Jamie Davis, a 55-year-old third-generation row-crop farmer and former Tensas Parish Police Juror, built his campaign around an outsider message and a blunt, farmer identity. “If you send a suit, you’re going to get the results that suits bring you, and that’s a loss,” Davis said, as reported by The Bayou Progressive.
Davis’ platform focuses on affordability, healthcare — including defending Medicaid and strengthening rural hospitals — protecting Social Security and Medicare, a national ban on gerrymandering, and a new Farm Bill with crop insurance reform.
A Historic Race
Regardless of the outcome in November, history will be made. Davis is the first Black U.S. Senate finalist in Louisiana since Reconstruction, invoking the legacy of P.B.S. Pinchback in his victory speech. “For the first time since Reconstruction, Louisiana voters have nominated a Black man to compete for the United States Senate,” Davis said. “That’s not Black history, nor Democratic history. That’s Louisiana’s history.”
Letlow, if she wins, would be the second woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Louisiana and the first Republican, following Democrat Mary Landrieu who served from 1997 to 2014.
The General Election Math
Davis enters the general election with clear momentum within the Democratic electorate but faces a significant structural challenge. Republican turnout in the runoff (316,538) was 61% higher than Democratic turnout (196,190). Louisiana has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 2008, and Trump carried the state by 22 percentage points in 2024, according to Fox 8 (WVUE).
However, Davis’ landslide victory — winning every parish — gives Democrats a unified nominee with a defined identity and a compelling personal story that could appeal to rural and independent voters.
What to Watch For
The November general election will test whether Davis’ grassroots, farmer-focused campaign can overcome Louisiana’s Republican lean, and whether national party committees invest significantly in what is traditionally considered a safe red seat. The race also represents a complete consolidation of Trump’s influence over the Louisiana Republican Party, following Cassidy’s defeat.
Key issues likely to dominate the campaign include affordability and cost of living — Davis’ central message — versus border security and education reform, which are Letlow’s signature priorities. The candidates will also diverge on carbon sequestration, gerrymandering, and abortion rights.
With both nominees now set, Louisiana voters face a choice between two candidates offering starkly different visions — and a race that will make history either way.