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S u n d ay, J u n e 14, 2026
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ELECTION 2026
Letlow’s momentum grows in Senate race
Louisiana banning lawsuits over climate change Law seeks to protect oil and gas companies
BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, is considered the favorite in the U.S. Senate race with early voting underway until Saturday in advance of the June 27 runoff election.
But Fleming says not to count him out BY TYLER BRIDGES
Staff writer
Gone are the national reporters who flocked to Louisiana to capture the political drama of whether U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, could survive President Donald Trump’s attempts to end his political career. Gone, too, is Cassidy after U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, rode Trump’s endorsement to first place in the May 16 Republican primary with 45% of the vote, state Treasurer John Fleming ran second with 28%, and the senator finished third with 25% and was eliminated. Letlow remains the favorite in the Senate race with early voting under-
Pauline Bonnet reacts as the U.S. scores against Paraguay in the World Cup at Finn McCool’s Irish Pub in New Orleans on Friday.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
WEATHER HIGH 93 LOW 78
© D. YURMAN 2026
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way until Saturday in advance of the June 27 runoff election. The Republican candidates are generating most of the attention, but farmer Jamie Davis and business owner Gary Crockett are vying on a separate ballot for the Democratic nomination on June 27. The winners of each party runoff will face off in the Nov. 3 general election. And the winner of that election will replace Cassidy. Cassidy’s absence from the June 27 runoff will benefit Fleming, said Woody Jenkins, chair of the East Baton Rouge Parish Republican Party and a fervent Fleming supporter.
FILE PHOTO
Senate candidate John Fleming said voters are receptive to his message that carbon capture and sequestration will poison waterways and strip ä See SENATE, page 6A landowners of property rights.
Louisiana has joined a handful of Republican states that have recently passed legislation aimed at banning lawsuits against oil and gas companies over the harms of climate change. The Louisiana Energy Protection Act, written by state Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, is aimed at preventing lawsuits filed by states and local jurisdictions in other parts of the U.S. from playing out in Louisiana. Across the country, about 30 lawsuits seeking to hold industry to account for the impacts of climate change have been weaving their way through the legal system, but none has been brought in Louisiana. The lawsuits seek to hold oil and gas companies accountable for the Geymann impacts of sea level rise, extreme weather events, wildfires and flooding, arguing that the companies should pay for measures needed to adapt, such as seawalls and building elevations. Louisiana has now banned those types of claims from being brought in state court against oil and gas producers or any other defendant. Geymann, who chairs the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee, said he was skeptical that human activity is causing climate change, and didn’t think the lawsuits were “legitimate.” There is overwhelming consensus among scientists that greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels heat the planet. “To say my aunt died from a heatstroke and I’m going to sue every oil company and every pipeline company in Louisiana because of it — that is not a legitimate claim,” Geymann said, referring to a lawsuit filed in Washington state against oil companies after a woman died of heat exposure. “A legitimate claim would be: I live down the road from a refinery and I have damages from the emission of
ä See LAWSUITS, page 12A
‘I’M AT THE WORLD CUP RIGHT HERE’ Soccer fans celebrate event in New Orleans
electricity in the stands among the Dutch fans ä Soccer is as they cheered on the Netherlands. growing in La., After that, she made it to every consecutive World Cup through 2014, traveling around the but pro game globe to follow the world’s most popular sport- still out of BY KASEY BUBNASH reach. PAGE 1C Staff writer ing event. Now 74 and limited in mobility, Bonnet said It was summer 1994 when Pauline she can’t make it to the games anymore. So ä Reyna, Bonnet attended her first World Cup match this year, she chose the next best thing: Finn U.S. have early in Orlando, Florida, after winning tick- McCool’s Irish Pub. iconic moment. ets at a fundraiser for her kids’ travel ä See WORLD CUP, page 4A PAGE 4C soccer team. She still remembers the
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Classified ..................... 2F Living............................1D Opinion ........................6B Commentary ................7B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
13TH yEAR, NO. 306