This Republican voted to convict Trump. Now he's up for reelection. Can he survive?

"Cassidy's bid for a third term will test Trump's grip on the party. The outcome may also show what voters want from their representatives in Washington in this political moment and whether a Republican senator like Cassidy can survive in Congress. Cassidy is facing two primary challengers on Saturday, including one endorsed by Trump, pitting the veteran lawmaker who chairs the powerful Senate health committee against a millennial MAGA loyalist."

"For many Louisiana Republican voters, Cassidy's vote to convict Trump felt like a betrayal. Under the shade of a pop-up tailgate tent at the annual crawfish festival in Breaux Bridge, retired deputy sheriff Kevin Dupree says he would be fine with any of the Republican nominees except Cassidy. "I'm the type of person, if you cross me, I probably won't trust you anymore," Dupree says. "I think his political career in Louisiana is finished.""

"Kelby Daigle hopes that is not so. Across the festival, with a lineup that features Cajun music, a crawfish eating contest and crawfish races, Daigle says has two polarizing positions right now. He does not like crawfish, and he is backing Cassidy. Daigle says Cassidy was right to convict Trump, though he acknowledges that the senator has not always explained that vote well to voters. Still he worries about what the president is doing to the party."

""Conservatism is about ideas and principles, and they always make it about Trump," Daigle says. "What are you going to do when he's no longer in the picture?" But for many primary voters, Trump is still very much in the picture. For some voters, Trump's endorsement is paramount "Trump does so much for Louisiana, for this country, and the one thing he asked the people of"

Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican senator, is running for reelection while most other GOP senators who voted to convict President Trump after January 6 have retired. Cassidy’s third-term bid tests how strongly Trump’s grip shapes the party and whether voters will reward or punish Cassidy for his conviction vote. Cassidy faces two primary challengers, including one endorsed by Trump, creating a contest between the veteran lawmaker and a younger MAGA loyalist. Some Louisiana Republicans view Cassidy’s conviction as betrayal and say his political career should end. Others support Cassidy’s conviction but criticize how he communicated it, while also worrying about the party’s future if Trump’s role fades.

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