AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
It's primary time this midterm election year, and southern states are in the spotlight. In a moment, we'll talk about the contest in Georgia this week. But first, to Louisiana, where U.S. senator Bill Cassidy lost the GOP primary yesterday. In 2021, Cassidy voted to convict President Trump and remove him from office after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and the president never forgot that. Trump endorsed one of Cassidy's challengers, Congresswoman Julia Letlow. She and another ally of the President, Republican John Fleming, will advance to the runoff election. Here's Senator Cassidy speaking last night.
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BILL CASSIDY: And let me just set the record straight. Our country is not about one individual.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Whoo. Yeah.
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CASSIDY: It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution.
RASCOE: Drew Hawkins with the Gulf States Newsroom joins us now from New Orleans. Good morning.
DREW HAWKINS, BYLINE: Hi, Ayesha.
RASCOE: Let's start with Senator Cassidy's loss. What does this say about President Trump's sway with voters in Louisiana?
HAWKINS: Well, I'd say it definitely confirms the president's influence is still strong with Republican voters. Of course, you know, Cassidy was under a lot of heat for his vote to convict President Trump in 2021, and on election day, Trump posted to Truth Social, calling Cassidy a disloyal disaster and a sleaze bag who is bad for Louisiana. I think it is also worth pointing out that this is not just Louisiana. Earlier this month on May 5, Trump endorsed challenges to Republican state senators in Indiana who, there, voted against redistricting. Most of them lost their seats, too.
RASCOE: Well, it's not over in Louisiana. The race now goes to a runoff with two Trump-aligned candidates. What can we expect to see there?
HAWKINS: Well, in a way, I think one thing we can expect to see is basically, like, a Trump-off - you know, which candidate can most closely align themselves with the president. Of course, as you mentioned, Julia Letlow was endorsed by President Trump. Her campaign did not respond to my requests for interviews or statements, but Trump's endorsement has really been the centerpiece of her campaign.
I did talk with John Fleming earlier this week. He served in the Trump administration in the president's first term, and he said he believes he was pushed out of President Trump's orbit, so he wasn't able to access or talk with the president before he gave his endorsement. Here's how he put it.
JOHN FLEMING: I tried for several months. And I could not get anyone to allow me to speak with him.
HAWKINS: Fleming says he's been one of Trump's earliest supporters, and his agenda is right in line with the president's.
RASCOE: Another notable thing about the primaries yesterday. We know U.S. House races were postponed. Governor Jeff Landry made that change earlier this month so that state lawmakers could redraw congressional maps after the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act. What were you hearing from voters about their experiences?
HAWKINS: I mean, the word of the day is definitely confusion, lots and lots of confusion. I talked to voters who said their ballots didn't match their neighbors' ballots. Some people had the congressional race that was rescheduled on their ballots, and some didn't. Some were missing some of the statewide amendments that should have been on their ballots. And I even talked to a few who couldn't vote in their own party's primary at all. It wasn't there, or the machine wouldn't allow them to select a candidate. And the Louisiana Democratic Party's office said that their phones were ringing off the hook all day, hundreds of calls with people saying that they were having trouble voting. Here's executive director Dadrius Lanis (ph).
DADRIUS LANUS: Some people who are asking to get the Democratic ballot are being denied, but they're saying that they can vote in the Republican ballot. That, to me, is fraudulent. It is voter suppression, and it is voter intimidation.
HAWKINS: And Lanus says that they're gathering information, and he wouldn't be surprised if there are lawsuits because of these irregularities. And, Ayesha, one last thing I'd like to mention is that on Tuesday, voters in Alabama may experience some of this same confusion. The governor there has also rescheduled some U.S. House races in order to redistrict the state's congressional maps. So it'll be interesting to see how these back-to-back primaries shake out.
RASCOE: That's Drew Hawkins with the Gulf States Newsroom. Thanks so much for speaking with us today.
HAWKINS: Thank you, Ayesha. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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