LOUISIANA — Senator Bill Cassidy will face Representative Julia Letlow and former U.S. congressman John Fleming in Louisiana's closed Republican primary on Saturday. Polls show the three candidates running close in support levels, and if no candidate secures a majority, the top two will advance to a runoff on June 27.

The contest is the first statewide Senate primary held under a recent change to Louisiana election law, which limited the upcoming primary to registered Republicans. Previously, the state held jungle primaries in which candidates from all parties appeared on a single ballot and the top two vote-getters advanced to a runoff. The closed format prevents independents and Democrats from participating in the Republican contest.

Cassidy was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict President Donald Trump in his January 2021 impeachment trial. Since that vote, Cassidy has faced suspicion and hostility from many Louisiana Republican primary voters.

Letlow has been endorsed by Trump. Fleming is running on a pro-Trump platform. Cassidy has spent campaign resources on attacks against Letlow.

Only three Republicans who voted to impeach or convict Trump in 2021 survived their subsequent elections, and each did so by running in jungle primaries. Representatives Dan Newhouse and David Valadao finished among the top two in their open 2022 primaries, which featured candidates from both parties, and each won the November 2022 general election. Senator Lisa Murkowski was re-elected in 2022 through Alaska's jungle primary system. Maine's primary, by contrast, allows independent voters to participate.