Jim Beam column: No Party voters have key role

Published 6:37 am Saturday, February 28, 2026

Louisiana’s 800,000 voters who are registered as No Party have three choices for the state’s closed Republican and Democratic party primary election on May 16: They can stay home, help President Donald Trump punish U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy or send Cassidy back to the Senate.

No Party voters, who are really independents, can vote for Cassidy in the Republican Party’s closed primary election.

Trump wants to punish Cassidy for voting on Feb.13, 2021, to convict Trump, who had been impeached by the House, for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. The 53-47 vote to convict was 10 votes short of the 67 required.

The president’s punishment has been to endorse U.S. Rep, Julia Letlow of Baton Rouge to replace Cassidy. Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming of Minden is also a Senate candidate, and he isn’t happy about Trump’s decision.

Cassidy is seeking a third, six-year term in the Senate. Gov. Jeff Landry, as he always does, copies Trump. So, he is beating the bushes for Letlow, he or his staff calling political contributors on her behalf.

Fleming criticized Landry’s efforts in an email to members of the Republican State Central Committee last Friday.

“I request that you make such choices for yourself, rather than attempting to please a high official. If voters or even members of the party abdicate their rights to choose who leads and represents them, we no longer have a representative democracy.”

Some state central committee members said Landry’s move is roiling the 230-person entity because Letlow, Cassidy and Fleming all have support among the membership.

Greg Hamer Sr. of Morgan City, who owns dozens of Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s and KFC restaurants, was one of the contributors contacted. He told The Advocate in an email that he joined the call late and realized only then that it was to raise money for Letlow.

Hamer then explained why re-electing Cassidy is a wise choice.

“Julia is a fine lady, and I have also supported her in all her races but asking me to vote for her against someone else that I have always supported is a change I am not willing to make,” Hamer said. “I have always supported Bill Cassidy; I think he has done an admirable job and should not be judged solely on the fact that he voted on one issue differently than the way I wish he had.”

“To put it bluntly, Louisiana needs all the help we can get,” Hamer added. “For the Republican Party it does not matter who wins, it will be a Republican. As you know, seniority is everything in the Senate. Bill has a lot of it, she has none. She will lack the ability to help our state as much as he can with his positions.”

Senate seniority is described as the “great equalizer” for smaller states, allowing them to gain influence by re-electing senators over many years.

Cassidy helped the President Joe Biden administration pass an infrastructure bill that Trump promised in his first term but didn’t deliver. Louisiana has been a major beneficiary of that bill, and its citizens got increased internet service costing millions.

The Advocate said Cassidy chairs the Senate Education, Health, Labor and Pensions Committee, giving him enormous influence over health care and other matters.

Stephanie Grace, a columnist at The Advocate, on Thursday said, “Cassidy is a doctor who is very much an advocate of vaccines and medical research and all these things that are now being dismantled.”

Quin Hillyer, another columnist at the newspaper, had some good advice for Cassidy in Thursday’s paper about his vote to convict Trump.

Hillyer said, “What I think he needs to do is address it and defend it and say, ‘Voters always say they want people to vote their conscience. Well, this is what I faced at that time, and what my conscience told me to do, whether you agree with it or not. I knew it was politically risky and here is why I did it.’

“Maybe show some scenes of the Capitol Police getting beaten up and then say, ‘That was my vote. Now, let’s talk about what I’ve done for you since then.’ ”

Louisiana voters deserve the additional federal benefits that Cassidy’s seniority can deliver to them. Their votes definitely don’t need to be used simply to satisfy Trump’s vindictiveness.

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at jim.beam.press@gmail.com.