An unlikely politician, Julia Letlow could be Bill Cassidy's successor

Rep. Julia Letlow joined Congress in 2021, replacing her husband, Luke, the year after he died of COVID-19 complications. He never took office representing the rural 5th Congressional District where they lived in Louisiana.

On May 16, Letlow, 45, advanced in her home state's U.S. Senate primary, prevailing over incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy and advancing to a June runoff.

She garnered the endorsement of President Donald Trump in a race that gauged Republicans' loyalty to the president. That's largely because Cassidy in 2021 voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial, which followed the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

After winning the March 2021 special election, Letlow became an unlikely Republican rising star. It is rare for political widows to replace their spouses, though Letlow serves with California Rep. Doris Matsui, who won a special election to replace former Rep. Bob Matsui in 2005.

And just five years ago, Letlow boasted no prior elected political experience, and her background was in university administration before running for Congress.

Letlow won 45% of the Senate primary vote against Cassidy, state Treasurer John C. Fleming and other GOP challenger Mark Spencer. The race now heads to a runoff, per Louisiana law, because no candidate surpassed the 50% total required to win the election outright. Letlow will face Fleming on June 27.

Trump encouraged Julia Letlow to unseat Bill Cassidy

If Cassidy is one of Trump's top Senate foes, then Letlow is a congressional favorite of the president.

Late last year, she was called on stage by Trump at a White House Christmas celebration, where the president praised her engagement to new love, Kevin Ainsworth. Letlow later shared photos from the fête, writing on social media about the "blessing it will be to spend the rest of my life" with Ainsworth.

"The best White House Christmas/Engagement party ever," Letlow said in her post.

A month later, Trump took to Truth Social to encourage Letlow to launch a campaign to unseat Cassidy. "Should she decide to enter this Race, Julia Letlow has my Complete and Total Endorsement," Trump wrote Jan. 17. "RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!" Trump said that, if elected, Letlow would assist his administration with energy development, lowering taxes and eliminating regulations.

Letlow told USA TODAY in a May 13 interview that Cassidy "spent four years undermining" the president, including a brief flirtation with a third party bid under the "No Labels" banner in 2024.

Like retiring colleague Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Cassidy has publicly criticized Trump during the president's second term, as well as his Cabinet. A gastroenterologist and two-term senator, Cassidy has slammed various decisions from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after cautiously voting to confirm him in 2025.

"If I ever have a difference of opinion with President Trump, I will definitely pick up the phone and call him. I believe that's how you handle it," Letlow told USA TODAY. 

The first Republican woman from her state elected to Congress, Letlow is on track to be the second woman to serve Louisiana in the Senate. The first was Cassidy's predecessor, former Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.

And if elected, her allyship to Trump's Make America Great Again agenda isn't the only thing Letlow will bring to the Senate.

Letlow's life, and path to politics, has been marked by grief. Her younger brother, Jeremy, died at 17 in a 2002 car accident when he was a junior in high school, according to a 2017 article from USA TODAY Network Louisiana. 18 years later, four days after Christmas, she lost Luke on Dec. 29, 2020. She is now raising their two kids.

This summer, her political journey could take another turn as U.S. senator-elect.

Contributing: Phillip Bailey