Politics

EXCLUSIVE: Trump-Backed Julia Letlow Announces Fundraising Haul In Bid To Oust Pro-Impeachment Sen. Bill Cassidy

U.S. House of Representatives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Republican Louisiana Rep. Julia Letlow, vying to unseat a senator who voted to convict President Donald Trump, is expected to report more than four million dollars in fundraising for the first quarter of 2026.

The congresswoman’s reported fundraising haul for Q1 2026 totals $4,378,500, including $1.9 across multiple campaign entities and an additional $2.5 million transferred from her congressional account, according to a release Letlow’s campaign first shared with the DCNF. Letlow entered the race against two-term incumbent Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy on Jan. 20 — three days after Trump gave her a surprise endorsement on Truth Social.

This figure, however, does not include the combined $3.8 million three pro-Letlow entities reported, a spokesperson for the groups told the DCNF. Therefore, the total reported amount of pro-Letlow spending is more than $8 million.

“I am humbled by the support pouring in from every corner of our state. Louisianans are ready for a senator who stands with President Trump and fights for our families, our values, and the future we owe our children,” Letlow told the DCNF in a statement. “I am grateful for every supporter who has stepped up, and I will keep working to earn every vote between now and May 16.”

Cassidy, whose reelection is backed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, touted a combined $26 million war chest between his campaign and allied groups in a January press release.

Nevertheless, the senator still made headlines earlier in April following reports that he scolded the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) for not giving his campaign enough money. The committee’s executive director reportedly responded to Cassidy using profanity and said he should not have voted to convict Trump five years earlier.

“Bill Cassidy and his never-Trump allies lit ten million dollars on fire trying to stop Julia, and they have nothing to show for it,” Letlow campaign manager Parker Carey said in a statement to the DCNF. “Louisiana Republicans have made clear they want the Trump-endorsed conservative, not the senator who voted to convict President Trump.”

The NRSC, the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, has run pro-Cassidy ads and generally follows an incumbent protection policy.

Cassidy was one of seven GOP senators to vote to join Democrats in convicting Trump in February 2021 after the then-Democratic-controlled House impeached him for “incitement of insurrection” during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Cassidy and Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine are the only members of this group still serving in the upper chamber, with both Cassidy and Collins up for reelection this year.

Although Letlow has Trump’s endorsement in a state the president won by 24 points in 2025, polling still shows a close three-way race between her, Cassidy and Fleming — albeit with the congresswoman leading in most surveys.

Letlow was first elected to the House with Trump’s support in a March 2021 special election. Her late husband, Luke Letlow, had been elected to the seat the previous year, but passed away at age 41 from COVID-19 complications five days before he was to assume office.