Senator Bill Cassidy, a two-term Republican who voted to convict President Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, took a veiled swipe at Mr. Trump, saying power should not focus on “one individual.”
Cassidy Loses Primary After Drawing Trump’s Ire
Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana on Saturday lost his Republican primary and the chance to seek a third term, after President Trump targeted him for defeat in retaliation for voting to convict him in his impeachment trial five years ago.
In a result that underscored the durability of Mr. Trump’s grip on his party, Representative Julia Letlow, the president’s chosen candidate, finished well ahead, drawing about 45 percent of the vote. John Fleming, the state treasurer and a former Trump administration official, edged out Mr. Cassidy to finish second, with about 28 percent of the vote.
Both Ms. Letlow and Mr. Fleming will advance to a runoff on June 27, according to The Associated Press.
Neither secured a majority of votes. But Mr. Cassidy, who voted to remove Mr. Trump in 2021 for inciting insurrection and has clashed with the Make America Healthy Again movement over vaccines, could not even secure enough support in his state to stay in the race, finishing with around 25 percent of the vote.
After the race was called, Mr. Trump celebrated in a social media post, writing that Mr. Cassidy’s “disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of legend, and it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!”
Mr. Cassidy’s defeat was the latest victory in Mr. Trump’s campaign of political retribution against Republicans who have defied him. This month, the president and his political operation successfully backed challengers to Indiana lawmakers who rejected his demands on redistricting. On Tuesday, he will try to unseat Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky libertarian who is Mr. Trump’s most vocal Republican critic in the House.