John Fleming claims CDC job offered to drop out of Louisiana Senate race

• Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming alleges he was offered a top CDC job to drop out of the U.S. Senate race.
• Fleming claims the offer came from former top CDC official Ralph Abraham, who is now chairing Julia Letlow's campaign.
• Fleming also accused Gov. Jeff Landry of meddling in the race to undermine his candidacy.
• The allegations come amid a tight Republican primary between Fleming, Julia Letlow and incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy.

Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming said Wednesday that former Surgeon General Ralph Abraham offered him a top job at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention if Fleming dropped out of the U.S. Senate race.

Abraham left his top position at the CDC last month to return home to care for an ill relative. He has since been named chairman of Congresswoman Julia Letlow's Senate campaign.

Fleming, Letlow and incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy are in a tight race for the May 5 Republican primary election.

Fleming also accused Gov. Jeff Landry of consistently in meddling in the race to undermine his candidacy. Landry has previously said Fleming is "unfit" for office.

“Just before announcing that he was leaving the CDC, Dr. Ralph Abraham called me to offer his job as Deputy Director of the CDC to me, presumably so that I would step down from the US Senate campaign. I politely declined of course,” Fleming wrote March 4 in a post on Facebook. “Now we find he is chairman of the Letlow campaign."

Fleming confirmed he wrote the post to USA Today Network. USA Today Network is seeking comment from Abraham and Landry.

Landry also officially endorsed Letlow on March 4.

“When will the governor end his interference in this important election?” Fleming wrote in his post. “Who is best to decide who represents you in Washington? Jeff Landry, or YOU?”

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.