President Donald Trump’s immense clout over the GOP and the power of his endorsements in Republican nomination races faces its latest test Saturday, as Louisiana holds primary runoff elections for the U.S. Senate. Republican voters in the solidly red Gulf Coast state will choose between Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming for the now open seat.

Background

Six weeks after denying Trump-targeted GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy a third six-year term in the Senate, a Letlow victory in the GOP runoff would be another victory for Trump as he works to fill the halls of Congress with loyal lawmakers for his final two years in the White House. But a win by Fleming would be the third high-profile endorsement setback for Trump in this spring’s Republican primaries.

Letlow, who was backed by Trump even before she entered the race in January, grabbed 45% of the vote in the primary, with Fleming at roughly 28% and Cassidy at just under 25%. Since no candidate cracked 50% of the vote, Letlow and Fleming advanced to the runoff for the Republican nomination and Cassidy became the first elected Republican senator to lose renomination since Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana in 2012.

Trump’s Endorsement Streak

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past two months, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Kentucky and Texas, as well as the Louisiana primary. However, Trump’s endorsement streak in statewide and congressional Republican primaries was snapped a few weeks ago when his last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to propel the three-term congressman to victory.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.