Louisiana Democrats pick rural farmer to challenge GOP in uphill Senate bid

Jamie Davis, a farmer and former parish official from rural northeast Louisiana, is the Democratic Party's Senate nominee in reliably red Louisiana.

Davis defeated Gary Crockett, a business owner in New Orleans, in Saturday's Democratic Senate runoff election, the Associated Press reported, in the race to succeed Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy.

Davis, who was heavily favored in the runoff thanks to support from the state party and his massive campaign cash and staff advantage over Crockett, will now face an extremely steep uphill climb as he tries to become the first Louisiana Democrat in 18 years to win a Senate election.

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Rep. Julia Letlow, who was backed by President Donald Trump, and Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming faced off in the GOP Senate runoff.

Five years after he voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, Cassidy was sent packing.

Letlow, who was backed by Trump even before she entered the race in January, finished first in the primary, double digits ahead of Fleming, with Cassidy in third place. Since no candidate cracked 50% of the vote, Letlow and Fleming advanced to the runoff for the Republican nomination and Cassidy became the first elected Republican senator to lose renomination since Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana in 2012.

Trump, celebrating Cassidy's defeat, said on social media that "it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!"

Cassidy, in a speech to supporters after conceding, took a jab at Trump, saying, "When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn't turn out the way you want it to. But you don't pout, you don't whine. You don't claim the election was stolen… You don't manufacture some excuse."

Letlow, who was backed by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a top Trump ally, won her congressional seat in 2021, after her husband, Luke Letlow, died six days after being sworn into the U.S. House after his 2020 election victory for the seat she now holds. She highlighted her support from Trump throughout her Senate campaign.

Fleming, who spent eight years in Congress before serving as a White House deputy chief of staff during Trump’s first term, argued he was the most conservative candidate in the GOP Senate primary.