BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming, a Republican and appointed by Donald Trump during his first term as president, has announced he will run for the U.S. Senate, hoping current member Bill Cassidy will also run a Republican who is running for re-election in 2026.
In a news release Wednesday, Fleming said U.S. Sen. Cassidy “has failed the people of Louisiana.” He criticized the representative for being one of seven Senate Republicans who voted with Democrats to convict Trump in the impeachment trial against the then-President following the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“A number of Republicans turned away from President Trump in the final year of his first term,” Fleming, 73, said. “But those who turned their backs on him and America First were not committed to his fight to make America great.”
Cassidy, who is in his second term, is running for re-election in reliably red Louisiana, where residents have overwhelmingly supported Trump in the last three presidential elections. While Cassidy, 67, handily won his last election, he did not face another well-known GOP candidate.
What’s more, the election took place before Cassidy voted to convict Trump – a move that led to the lawmaker being vilified on social media and censored by Louisiana Republicans.
While Cassidy has not yet formally announced he is seeking a third term, Joe Ramallo, a spokesman for the senator, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the Republican has “said multiple times that he is running for re-election.” It is time to “focus on the campaign”. Cassidy “will see who’s still in the running.”
Additionally, Cassidy’s team praised his recent work — including meeting with Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, securing tax relief for victims of natural disasters and “urging (Senate Majority Leader) Chuck Schumer to hold a vote to repeal” the bill Windfall elimination to prevent offsetting of penalties and state pensions. The guidelines broadly reduce payments to two groups of Social Security recipients: people who also receive a pension from work not covered by Social Security, and surviving spouses of Social Security recipients who themselves receive a state pension.
Fleming’s bid marks an early start to his campaign. It is an attempt to return to Capitol Hill, where he served four terms in the US House of Representatives starting in 2009. Instead of seeking re-election, Fleming unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate, losing to then-Treasury Secretary John Kennedy.
After Congress, Fleming served in the Trump administration for several years, including as deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services and as assistant secretary of commerce for economic development. He was elected Louisiana treasurer last year and took office in January 2024.
