Trump-backed congresswoman Letlow challenges Cassidy for US Senate 

WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Representative Julia Letlow announced a Trump-backed primary challenge against Republican Senator Bill Cassidy on Tuesday, with a message that underscored her loyalty to President Donald Trump and promised to deliver unflinching conservative leadership.

Letlow released a two-minute video that did not mention Cassidy by name but implied the two-term Louisiana Republican lacks conservative credentials in a state Trump won by 22 points in 2024.

“A state as conservative as ours? We shouldn’t have to wonder how our senator will vote when the pressure’s on,” said Letlow, 44, who was elected to the House of Representatives in 2021.

Cassidy, 68, voted to convict Trump at his second impeachment trial after the January 6, 2021, attack on Congress by Trump supporters. He has since clashed with the Trump administration on healthcare issues but provided a crucial vote to confirm Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

  Trump waded into the Louisiana race over the weekend, with a social media post that concluded: “RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!”

Cassidy said Letlow called him on Tuesday. “She said she respected me and that I had done a good job. I will continue to do a good job when I win re-election,” he wrote on X.

(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Alistair Bell)