r/Louisiana • u/AeshmaDaeva016 • 1d ago
LA - Politics Who to Vote For?
I am a left-leaning centrist. I voted Republican in the primary to try to save Cassidy’s failed election.
Now I’m faced with (if I can still vote) the prospect of Letlow vs Fleming.
I get that many of you disagree with my decision, but here we are. Who would eff everything up for Republicans more? Letlow is a Trump-appointed horrible person. Fleming is an old-school disrupter. I kinda feel like Fleming would give a much bigger headache to Republicans. Letlow will just float on through whatever Trump wants her to vote for, and then vote on whatever will save her political career after that.
Who should I vote for? I’m happy to sit this one out, but if I can cause maximum disruption, I’m all for it.
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u/JustHereForGCB 1d ago
I've had others here disagree with me, which is okay, but I view Letlow as more of a loyalist to Shitler, and 30 years younger, so I may be stuck with her for literally the rest of my life.
Fleming might only be 99% loyal, which is better than 100%, but he's also 75, so he may be gone in 24 years.
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u/AMundaneSpectacle 1d ago
I agree. Also, Letlow only has her seat now bc she took her husband’s after he died. She’s boring and would’ve never been sworn into congress on her own merit. Not that Fleming is appealing in any way, but her full submission to Trump is gross.
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u/JustHereForGCB 1d ago
She's only in Congress because Luke Letlow was a dumbass. She's only going to be in the Senate because Bill Cassidy was a dumbass.
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u/AMundaneSpectacle 1d ago
I do think she prob will win the runoff, but I’m still holding onto hope Davis beats her in the end.
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u/username_generated 1d ago
Letlow’s a loyalist to the GOP, not to Trump specifically. She’ll float with them wherever they go post Trump and will likely back Rubio over Vance in any post-Trump primary fight
Flemming is a genuine Trumper who is ideologically way worse than Letlow, even if their voting record will be more or less the same. He’ll probably back Trump Jr or Vance for president.
Letlow is way more likely to follow the GOP back to something resembling normalcy. Flemming will scratch and claw because trumpism is his meal ticket.
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u/AeshmaDaeva016 1d ago
I have no idea if you are sincere or not, but this is the same argument that torpedoed Cassidy’s election, at least as I saw it on social media.
Letlow has WAY too much invested in Trump at this point for this viewpoint to be truthful. She will vote in whatever way he wishes.
I find this insincere and formulaic. If there is any sincerity to this viewpoint, than I need to know ow whether Letlow would vote to disclose the Epstein files, and I need to hear it from her.
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u/username_generated 1d ago
I have no idea how that translates. Cassidy’s campaign was DOA when Trump won in 24. Cassidy didn’t lose because he liked Marco Rubio over Vance or Don Jr. he lost because he voted to impeach the party’s leader.
There are also other forces beyond Trump’s id in republican politics. Letlow is popular in the state delegation and in Congress because she’s a team player and is pretty friendly. Trump just kinda likes her, even though Miguez and Flemming were “trumpier” they are also assholes that the state Republican apparatus was hesitant to consolidate around. Trump historically just endorses whoever is winning and Letlow understood to be a heavy favorite even when it was just a hypothetical.
Like if you wanna go with Flemming, fine, but don’t say my response is formulaic when your entire line of logic was “Trump endorsed her, she must be worse”
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u/AeshmaDaeva016 1d ago
Thanks for the post. I did not mean to belittle your response. It’s just that I saw a lot of this type of response in the attack of Cassidy, and while I’m not a huge fan of him, I thought he was a better choice than Letlow or Fleming.
You make very good points that Fleming and Miguez were worse, but that Trump saw Letlow as the most likely to win. You are right to call me out on my skepticism due to the Trump endorsement. I really don’t know what she stands for and how that plays into what I would vote for in a candidate. I don’t know her views on education, or big oil, or coastal erosion. I don’t know how many people actually do. She leaned pretty heavily on that endorsement.
At any rate, I apologize for my skepticism and, while I don’t know yet if I will vote for Letlow, or if she is even good for the state, I do think it’s going to be an interesting few months.
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u/username_generated 1d ago
I think what throws people for a loop is that Letlow genuinely isn’t a natural politician. Her background is in academic administration, she actually has a doctorate in it and was in line to lead ULM for a bit pre-Covid. As I understand from my family who are involved in state GOP stuff, she’s not some climber angling to wield maximum power, she’s taking a break to fulfill her husband’s dream. There’s a good chance she takes a university presidency somewhere in the medium term future.
That motivation structure is why she isn’t going to blow our minds with any brave votes that defy the Trump administration but it’s also why she won’t be clawing to keep this existing power structure, agenda, and coalition in tact. She exists outside of it. Flemming, at least his current and last shot at relevance, exists because of it.
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u/Ok_but_youre_wrong 22h ago
I wouldn’t consider her a non-“climber” whatsoever, nor would I fall for the ”she’s taking a break to fulfill her husband’s dream” narrative, given her pre-existing involvement in the governmental/political realm. See pre-Covid/pre-widow reference here.
Her educational background (in its entirety, all three collegiate degrees, if I remember correctly) is actually in communications/speech communications, which is what the bulk of her roles in academic institutions have been related to.
As for future university presidency, that’s a scary thought considering how easily she flip-flopped from being such an out-spoken advocate for diversity while interviewing for the ULM Presidency position to consistently voting anti-DEI. (These interviews were videoed, and Letlow can be seen feigning coughSpeechCommuicationsskillscough deep disappointment in the racial diversity of existing ULM faculty, at one point even declaring that increasing faculty diversity would be a top priority for her as ULM President and directly asking, seemingly with utter shock and disgust, why the then-current ULM faculty roster consisted of so few African American women.)
Letlow climbs however she needs to climb to get where she wants to be, and she climbs alongside whomever can help her get there the quickest.
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u/NOLASneauxDay 14h ago
I don't like either one of them and will vote D in the general, this is the best argument I've seen to vote for Fleming in the primary. He's unlikely to serve more than one, at most two terms. And he's not completely lockstep with Trump.
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u/Tonebr 1d ago
100% Fleming in the R runoff. Then Jamie Davis in the general.
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u/PalpitationOk9802 Vermilion Parish 1d ago
i have so much hope on jamie davis.
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u/drcookiephd 1d ago
I’m like FINALLY a Louisiana politician I actually think is good. It’s been so long since we had someone I felt genuine enthusiasm for, especially in a statewide election. I don’t remember voting for someone I agreed with on much since, like, Gary Chambers and that was state senate. Def Fleming then Davis. Big on the Davis!
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u/AeshmaDaeva016 1d ago
Trust me, I am definitely voting D in the general election.
I got duped by the Independent party, and I don’t want that to happen again. I want to maximize the centrist voice in this state. I wish we had a clear consensus.
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u/thomasleestoner 1d ago
Change your enrollment to Dem (Online only now and do it by June 6) and vote for Jamie Davis in the runoff
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u/AeshmaDaeva016 1d ago
There has been SO MUCH misinformation in this election. I was told that as No Party I couldn’t vote in the primary at all. I have even read that on national media sites.
I was also told that if my ballot had the House of Rep election on it, that it would be thrown out (it was on there and I have no idea if that was true).
Finally, I was told that once I voted in a primary, I was locked in to that party for runoffs. Is that really not true???
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u/Movieplayer55 Avoyelles Parish 1d ago
That is true. No Party voting in a primary is locked to that party for a runoff.
It’s every person for themselves in the general election.
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u/Hawkwins 1d ago
If OP remains “No Party,” would OP only be allowed to vote for the Republican candidate in the Main Election?
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u/AlabasterPelican Calcasieu Parish 1d ago
Fleming seems batshit. However a few years of batshittery might be preferable to cold hard evil.
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u/PalpitationOk9802 Vermilion Parish 1d ago
fleming is the only one against CCS and letlow is trump’s lackey.
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u/Plantyplantandpups 1d ago
I did the same thing. There was no way to know if it would have been successful. Anyway, I'm going Fleming because Letlow supports CCS and the last thing we need is one more thing polluting our state. I'm voting Davis in the general regardless.
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u/Decent-Dragonfly6460 1d ago
I’ve said it from the beginning. Letlow only got elected because her husband died during the campaign. She platform for running was “I want to continue the job my husband started.”
I don’t know her specifically, but she is from my hometown. I’m “friends” (I say friends lightly bc we don’t talk a lot or hang out but we’re in the same circles due to school activities) with a lot of people in her circle. Is she a nice lady? Sure. She’s very sweet, and she’d probably truly help you out if you were in trouble. BUT she’s not good for this state.
She’s shady af. If only for the reason that she snow engaged to a lobbyist who is lobbying for the exact things that she’s supporting and running on currently.
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u/tidder-la 1d ago
Letlow and Fleming have zero name recognition. Former No Party and Democrats will vote for anyone but whomever king Orange endorses.
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u/AeshmaDaeva016 1d ago
I hear you and I want to know more. I honestly can’t tell if you lean left or right. I come from an era where the Tea Party was the biggest disruption, but that seems tame compared to today. Voting for Fleming seems like a throwback,and my old voting sensibilities scream that Fleming is bad for centrist interests.
Letlow seems like a vote for someone who will say that they are alarmed by what is going on in Washington, and then vote yes for everything in her party’s interests. I don’t see her shaping policy, or working with Democrats.
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u/IfIPickedTheWinners 12h ago
As elected officials who represent hundreds of thousands of constituents each, they objectively do not have zero name recognition.
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u/tidder-la 12h ago
Statewide they are unknowns .
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u/IfIPickedTheWinners 12h ago edited 12h ago
That's cope, sorry. Both polling and anecdotal evidence I've seen say otherwise. Emerson found only 4% of voters didn't know Letlow and 8% didn't know Fleming and that was only a month ago.
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u/NowSeekingTravel 1d ago
How do you feel about carbon capture? Because if you don’t want it, don’t pick Letlow
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u/Alternative-Duck-573 1d ago
Despite being on the do not call list and declared no party, I've been harassed relentlessly to vote for Letlow. I will not be voting for Letlow as she's a "DEI hire".
I figured the registered Dems would work themselves out.
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u/AeshmaDaeva016 1d ago
I have gotten dozens of calls that I do not answer, so I cannot say from whose they came.
My parents in West Virginia got a call from Trump urging them to vote for Letlow, which just shows how much dirty outside money is in this election.
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u/thatgibbyguy 1d ago
Jamie Davis in the general.