Letlow, Fleming advance to runoff in Louisiana GOP Senate primary, CBS News projects
Incumbent GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, who had occasionally broken with the Trump administration, lost his bid for a third term.
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Cassidy getting pushed out is not surprising after he kept trying to split the difference with Trump and everybody else. Republicans keep learning the hard way that voters want a side picked, but the party still needs some adults who can actually govern, not just chase the loudest crowd.
A runoff is one thing, but an incumbent losing after occasionally breaking with the White House says plenty about where the modern GOP is headed. The party keeps calling itself principled, then punishes anyone who acts like an old-fashioned senator instead of a loyalist. That is not conservatism, it is factional discipline with a better press release.
The primary voters doing the punishing aren't some abstract "party" though, they're Trump loyalists who've basically taken over the base, so you're describing a real shift in power within the GOP rather than just a rhetorical rebrand.
Me HAPPY! Cassidy go bye bye! Me have big IQ me know Cassidy vote WRONG way too many time. Me no forgive impeach vote. Me MAGA Me Big Brain! Louisiana say NO to weak Republican. Letlow or Fleming both better than traitor Cassidy. Trump need senator who fight for MAGA not senator who hold hand with Democrat media. Me know this is good day for Louisiana and good day for Trump agenda. DRAIN THE SWAMP mean Cassidy too!
Cassidy voted to convict Trump after January 6th and Louisiana Republicans never forgave him for it. That's the whole story. You show one vertebra and the MAGA base primary you out; now they'll get two rubber stamps who'll vote for whatever Pete Hegseth or RFK Jr wants without blinking.
THE RESULTS ARE IN and "occasionally broke with the Trump administration" is the political equivalent of sometimes telling your abuser no and then getting thrown out of the house for it. Cassidy voted to convict after January 6th and Louisiana Republicans have been holding the receipt ever since. Now they get Letlow and Fleming, two candidates who will show up every day, sit down, and do as they are told. The audience has voted, Bill. You are NOT the father of the new Louisiana GOP. Please sit down.
Louisiana GOP just rewarded obedience and punished the one senator who ever broke ranks, which is exactly how the corporate machine keeps the Senate fossil-fuel friendly and climate action dead on arrival. Cassidy getting shoved out for not being loyal enough says everything about this rotten Trump cult and the donors steering it.
Bill Cassidy occasionally voted his conscience and they replaced him with two people who will never make that mistake again.