Live results: Louisiana primary runoff

WASHINGTON (AP) — Louisiana Republicans will nominate a U.S. Senate candidate in a primary runoff on Saturday, six weeks after Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy was denied the chance to run for a third term.

Although President Donald Trump has already achieved one of his most important political goals by defeating Cassidy, Saturday’s runoff could showcase his continued influence in the GOP primaries as he attempts to fill the halls of Congress with loyalists during his final two years in office. The seat is not a prime target for Democrats looking to regain control of the chamber in November.

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Republican U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow and State Treasurer John Fleming are the finalists for Cassidy’s now open seat in the U.S. Senate. Trump encouraged Letlow to challenge Cassidy in the primary and endorsed her before she entered the race in January. Letlow took office in 2021 in a special election to replace her husband, Luke Letlow, who died of COVID-19 in 2020 before taking office. Fleming served in Congress for eight years before Trump’s first term. He ran for US Senate in 2016 but failed to reach a runoff. Republican John Kennedy won the seat.

In the May 16 primary, Letlow finished first with about 45% of the vote, short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff on Saturday. Fleming finished second with 28% of the vote, just ahead of Cassidy with about 25%.

Letlow led small, mostly rural parishes throughout the state, with an absolute majority in parishes in northeastern Louisiana and along the Mississippi border. Fleming mostly ranked second across the state. He did better in northwest Louisiana, with leads in nine rural parishes, but not in Caddo, home to Shreveport, where he finished second behind Letlow.

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Cassidy was the top vote-getter in the state’s three most populous parishes, including Orleans Parish where he led Letlow by a margin of nearly three to one. But he barely edged out Letlow in East Baton Rouge and Jefferson parishes.

The president’s supporters generally have a strong winning record at the polls, but his recent picks for governor in Iowa and Georgia lost the primaries. Trump endorsed South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Yvette for governor before the primary, but after she was forced into a runoff in a close vote, he announced he was backing her and her rival, state Attorney General Alan Wilson, who won the nomination on Tuesday.

Trump has reissued his endorsement of Letlow several times since January, including most recently in mid-June. He also did not support Fleming.

Louisiana Democrats will also be finalizing their nominee for U.S. Senate, with farmer Jimmy Davis and Navy veteran Gary Crockett competing in a runoff.

Other primary runoffs on the ballot include Republican contests for the Public Service Commission and State Board of Education, where incumbent board member and former Republican U.S. Rep. Joseph Kao faces a challenge from educator and business owner Eli Schroeder.

The US House of Representatives primaries were postponed to November after the US Supreme Court invalidated the state’s current congressional map, which includes a majority-black district that favors Democrats. Although the state had previously adopted a new primary system for congressional races, the postponed U.S. House races will return to using an “open” or “jungle” primary system in which candidates compete on the same ballot regardless of party.

Here are some key facts about the election and data points that AP’s decision-making team will be monitoring as the votes are counted.

When do the polls close?

Polls close at 8 p.m. EST, which is 9 p.m.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will present the voting results and announce the winners in the primary runoffs for the U.S. Senate, the state Public Service Commission and the state school board.

Who is entitled to vote?

Registered party members may only vote in their party’s primary runoffs. In other words, Democrats cannot vote in a Republican runoff or vice versa. Independent or non-partisan voters who voted in a party’s May 16 primary may only vote in the same party’s runoff. Independent or non-partisan voters who did not vote in the May 16 partisan primary may vote in the runoff for either party.

How many voters are there?

As of June 1, there were about 3 million registered voters in Louisiana. The number of registered Democrats and Republicans was about 1.1 million each, with registered Democrats slightly outnumbering them. About 819,000 voters were not registered with any party. The rest were registered with other parties.

How many people actually vote?

About 832,000 Louisiana residents participated in the May 16 primary, or about 28% of registered voters. This includes about 347,000 registered Democrats and about 336,000 registered Republicans.

In 2022, when the state was still using “open” or “jungle” primary rules for some contests, turnout fell from 1.4 million in the November primary to about 439,000 in the December runoff, or about 47% of registered voters to about 14%.

How many votes were cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 33% of Democratic primary votes and about 31% of Republican primary votes in the May 16 primary were cast early in person or by mail.

As of Thursday, about 82,000 votes from Republicans and about 61,000 votes from Democrats had already been cast in Saturday’s runoffs.

When are early and absentee ballots issued?

Early voting and absentee voting results are typically released by each parish in their first voting update.

How long does the vote counting process usually take?

In the May 16 primary, the AP first announced results at 9:02 p.m. ET, or two minutes after polls closed. As of 10:46 PM ET, more than 90% of the total votes had been counted. The last voting update that night was at 1:30 a.m. ET, with about 99.9% of the total votes counted.

When will AP announce the winner?

The AP does not make predictions and will only declare a winner when it is determined that no scenario exists that would allow the trailing candidate to close the gap. If the race is not called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or announcements of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet announced a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

There are no automatic recounts in Louisiana, but a candidate may request and pay for a recount of absentee and early votes. The AP may declare a winner in a race subject to a recount if it can determine that the lead is so large that a recount or legal challenge cannot change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Saturday, there will be 129 days until Louisiana’s Nov. 3 general election and congressional primary, and 168 days until Louisiana’s Dec. 12 general congressional election.

–Robert Yuen, Associated Press