Senator Bill Cassidy has a primary challenger for his seat in 2026.
State Treasurer John Fleming announced that he will be running for Cassidy’s seat.
Fleming said one of his main priorities should he be elected to the Senate in 2026 is the southern border.
“The end to a porous border where we have fentanyl and illegal immigrants pouring across, bringing criminals and the like,” says Fleming.
As for some of his other priorities, Fleming says, “We certainly need balanced trade. We need lower inflation. We need a better economy.”
Fleming previously represented Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District from 2009 to 2017.
During that time, he and eight other Republicans founded the House Freedom Caucus.
After leaving the U.S. House, Fleming served as a Trump advisor before becoming Louisiana state treasurer last year.
Fleming says he would bring a new voice to the Senate.
“At least from the perspective of most Republicans, he’s really become a part of the fabric of Washington, the status quo there,” says Fleming. “And in this great reset that we’re going to have, I think that President Trump needs a senator like me.”
Fleming said Cassidy’s vote to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial in 2021 was one of the overriding factors leading to his decision to challenge him.
“That alone just shows that he’s totally out of touch with the people of Louisiana,” Fleming says.
Fleming says there are other reasons to launch his primary challenge.
“He typically has voted for bipartisan — when I say bipartisan, I mean mostly Democrat-led –legislation that spends more and more money like the $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill that was advertised to fix roads and bridges, but it does none of that,” says Fleming. “The money goes to woke investments, green new deal-type of things.”
A spokesman for the Cassidy campaign released a statement reacting to Fleming’s primary challenge.
“I thought he wanted to be State Treasurer? John Fleming wants to get out of Louisiana,” the statement read. “He publicly said he wanted a job in the Trump administration, and apparently they didn’t want him. So after less than a year as State Treasurer, he’s looking for another job to return to Washington. Again, I thought he wanted to be State Treasure, but apparently not.”
