Sen. Bill Cassidy loses re-election bid as Louisiana Republican Senate race goes to run-offs

BATON ROUGE, La. (NBC, KYMA) - The Louisiana Republican Senate race will go to run-offs as none of the candidates met the required threshold to win the race.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who was seeking a third term in the Senate, lost to his challengers Saturday night.

Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) and State Treasurer John Fleming (R) both defeated Sen. Cassidy, and will advance to that June 27 runoff.

"I have spoken with John, I have spoken with Julia, and I congratulated them both. This was not the result that I necessarily wanted, but I feel great," Cassidy expressed.

With 93% of the vote in, Rep. Letlow was leading the primary race with 45% of the vote, but she still fell short of winning a majority.

Since January of this year, Letlow had President Donald Trump's endorsement in the Senate race, which gave her a boost against her competitors.

"There's no greater endorsement than the endorsement of President Trump. I will always be seeing that from the mountaintops, but of course, always want to share about our platform, my dreams and vision and hope for Louisiana, and how I'm going to work so hard every day for our Louisiana families...now, all work is not done. We have one more race coming up, and I will promise you this: I will crisscross all across this state yet again, fighting for families."

Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.)

Fleming won 28% of the vote giving him second place and advancing him to face-off against Letlow in the run-offs.

Fleming did not immediately comment on his advancement to the Republican Senate runoffs.

Cassidy voted to convict President Trump on impeachment charges in 2021, and no elected Republican senator has lost a primary since 2012.

Trump took to social media to congratulate Letlow calling her a "spectacular woman," while minutes later, the president celebrated Cassidy's loss in the election, calling him disloyal while adding, "It's nice to see that his political career is over!"