Republican U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow won Louisiana’s open U.S. Senate seat Tuesday, narrowly defeating Democrat Jamie Davis.
Letlow won with 51% of the vote to succeed Sen. Bill Cassidy, whom she defeated in the Republican primary after winning President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Davis, a Tensas Parish farmer and former police juror, had 49% — the final tally was his 720,106 votes to Letlow's 745,963.
Republicans have now won six consecutive Senate elections in Louisiana. No Democrat has won the seat since 2008, and no Black candidate has been elected to statewide office since Reconstruction.
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A closer race than expected
Davis outperformed most predictions. Early voting ballots hit the highest for a non-presidential election since early voting became popular in Louisiana. Black voters made up 34.4% of early voters, compared to 31.3% of the overall electorate. Democrats also outvoted Republicans during the early voting period, 42% to 39%.
Democrats had hoped for a surprise. Analysts from both parties said Letlow remained the favorite throughout the race, but Davis raised $5 million and had more cash on hand than Letlow heading into the final weeks.
NDAs became a campaign issue
Davis made nondisclosure agreements a centerpiece of his campaign, using government transparency as a bridge to appeal to Republican voters.
A Gulf States Newsroom investigation found that Letlow signed an NDA with Meta in June 2024 over its $50 billion data center in Richland Parish. She later bought Meta and Nvidia stock and did not disclose the trades for more than a year, well past the STOCK Act's 45-day deadline.
Letlow’s spokesperson said she had no role in directing her trades and that the NDA played no part in them. Letlow declined repeated interview requests from the Gulf States Newsroom and did not debate Davis.
This is a developing story. Check back for more.
