06/02/2026
A CLOSER LOOK AT U.S. SENATE RACE: FLEMING VS. LETLOW by Diane Long, Former Trump Delegate from Louisiana — Americans are living in perilous times. There is no more consequential decision than whom we send to the United States Senate from Louisiana.
There are now two Republican candidates left in the race: Dr. John Fleming, former Congressman, former Deputy to President Trump, and current Louisiana state treasurer; and Congresswoman Julia Letlow.
Letlow is the graceful survivor of her husband’s untimely death, and clearly a lovely and intelligent person. A tragedy befell her and she has soldiered on admirably.
But these facts are not adequate prerequisites for being a United States Senator. Republican control of both chambers is razor thin (and may not even exist after the mid-terms.) In many ways, the Republic is unraveling. The ground beneath us feels unsteady. We need rock-solid conservative representation and unshakeable grit.
We can’t afford to make another mistake.
Letlow is an academic at heart, and these liberal sensibilities do not really leave a person. While she now insists she disavows the injustice of DEI, a true reversal is unlikely in someone from the higher education world. Her conversion is doubtful.
Fleming, on the other hand, has the robust career accomplishments and personal integrity to make conservatives rest easy. As Congressman, he was a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus in 2015. He was on the ground fighting the liberal Republican establishment before MAGA was even born.
Fleming and his band of stalwarts were MAGA before it was cool. We owe these trailblazers a debt of gratitude.
While in Congress, Fleming earned a 100% rating from Numbers, USA, the immigration watchdog that strives to protect Americans from the harmful effects of unfettered immigration and cheap foreign labor.
Letlow has received only a B (80 %) Numbers rating and has refused to sponsor various legislation that would restrict refugee resettlement; end the foreign worker visa lottery; reduce asylum fraud; and end chain migration. This record can be easily verified.
Fleming also firmly opposes Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS)—the potentially dangerous process of storing carbon dioxide underground in wells, which would be costly to taxpayers, and would create serious challenges to private property rights through Eminent Domain.
Letlow supports CCS—she has done nothing as a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee to repeal the Biden era tax credits that fund it at public expense. There is zero market demand for it.
After his congressional service, Fleming went on to serve President Trump loyally in the president’s first term as Deputy Chief of Staff to the President for Planning and Implementation, among other roles. Later, when many around our beleaguered president were running for cover after the 2020 election, Fleming never budged. He stayed by his boss’s side to the end.
Fleming currently serves as Louisiana State Treasurer and projects a budget surplus of approximately $293 million. He strongly insists this money be returned to taxpayers and not turned over to state legislators with sticky fingers.
Conservatives in Louisiana have their own minds. Governor Jeff Landry’s backroom deal to pick a winner and a loser among Republican candidates in this race was out of line. It has been suggested that the governor helped block Fleming’s access to President Trump, his friend and former boss, to preclude a Trump endorsement until it was too late.
Regardless of one’s preferred candidate, no honest Louisianan likes dirty pool.
"These are the times that try men's souls,” wrote Thomas Paine at Christmastime in 1776, describing the brutal conditions when the Continental army was freezing and starving under General Washington. Victory seemed remote, and the obstacles were daunting. But the Patriots pressed on.
Now, as then, every decision is critical if we are to save our state, country, and ourselves.
Let’s send Dr. John Fleming ─ a tested patriot, a man of singular distinction, and a reliable conservative ─ to the United States Senate.
Diane Long
Shreveport
