Sen. Bill Cassidy loses Louisiana Republican Senate primary
· Axios
Sen. Bill Cassidy failed to finish in the top two spots in Louisiana's Republican Senate primary on Saturday, AP projects.
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- The race now goes to a June 27 runoff between Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming.
Why it matters: It's a win for President Trump, who backed Letlow and urged voters to oust Cassidy, whom he's described as "very disloyal."
Driving the news: Cassidy ran afoul of Trump when he voted more to convict the president during his Senate impeachment trial over the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
- Trump was acquitted, but he's sought retribution against Republicans who supported the impeachment effort.
Between the lines: Cassidy also helped torpedo Casey Means' nomination for surgeon general, a move that drew the ire of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the MAHA movement.
- Means, a health influencer, is a close Kennedy ally and a major figure in the MAHA movement. She is also the sister of Calley Means, a top Kennedy adviser.
- Kennedy and his supporters view Cassidy, a physician-turned-senator who chairs the Senate HELP Committee, as an avatar for the medical establishment they're determined to upend, as Axios' Alex Isenstadt wrote.
Zoom in: Saturday marked the first time in more than 50 years that Louisiana used a closed-primary system to choose its U.S. senator, a change widely viewed as putting Cassidy at a disadvantage.
- In his previous primary victories, Cassidy's main opposition came from Democrats.
- Trump endorsed Letlow, a U.S. House member from the northeastern part of the state, in January.
- Fleming cast himself as a Trump and MAGA ally, despite not having the president's endorsement.