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- A new poll shows John Fleming and Julia Letlow leading incumbent Bill Cassidy in the Louisiana Republican Senate primary.
- The poll, paid for by Fleming, places all three candidates within the survey’s margin of error.
- Fleming also leads both Letlow and Cassidy in hypothetical one-on-one matchups, according to the survey.
- Both Fleming and Letlow believe Cassidy is vulnerable for his vote to convict former President Trump.
A new statewide poll on the Louisiana Republican Senate primary race shows state Treasurer John Fleming and Congresswoman Julia Letlow leading incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy with all three candidates within the margin of error of the survey.
The poll, which is the first survey made public since qualifying for the May 16 primary ended Feb. 13, is being promoted and paid for by Fleming.
Veteran pollster John Couvillon of JMC Analytics conducted the poll that was taken Feb. 14-16 and included 645 likely Republican primary election voters.
The survey showed Fleming with 26%, Letlow with 25% and Cassidy with 22%. It also showed Fleming leading both Letlow and Cassidy in hypothetical head-to-head matchups.
“It shows again that I’m now the only true conservative in the race and that resonates with voters,” Fleming said in an interview with USA Today Network. “There is a big difference in my conservative voting credentials compared to (Cassidy and Letlow) and very little difference between Sen. Cassidy’s and Ms. Letlow’s liberal voting records.”
Letlow was the last of the three major Republican candidates to enter the race after President Trump endorsed her in January.
Both Fleming and Letlow believe Cassidy is vulnerable because he voted to convict Trump in the president’s second impeachment trial.
A super PAC supporting Cassidy has been pounding Letlow with a series of “Liberal Letlow” attack ads that Couvillon said he believes have been effective in suppressing her support.
Couvillon also said his analysis shows Fleming was able to secure most of former Senate candidate Blake Miguez’ support after Miguez dropped out of the race to run for the 5th Congressional District seat instead.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.
