BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow spoke with WAFB about the Republican Senate primary runoff election, where early voting is underway.
Mr. Letlow graduated from the University of Louisiana-Monroe with a bachelor’s degree in speech communications and received his Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of South Florida in 2012. She served as Director of Education and Patient Safety at Tulane University School of Medicine in 2018 and was a finalist for ULM President in 2020.
A video in which she defended the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies during an interview for the job became a firepower for opponents, and she was labeled “Liberal Letlow.” Since then, she says her position on DEI has evolved.
“We didn’t really know what it was at the time, but we witnessed it because we were in higher education, and then we saw the left completely take over it,” Lelow said. “And then you make it like indoctrinating kids with Marxism, and instead of encouraging them to achieve the American Dream, they oppress people.”
Letlow said he has spent the past five and a half years in Congress fighting DEI.
AI-generated video controversy
After the 2020 video was recorded, Ms. Letlow lost her husband, Congressman Luke Letlow, to COVID-19. She was then appointed to fill his seat in Congress. Fleming reposted a synthetically generated video of the congresswoman referring to her late husband.
The video drew backlash from many Republicans in Louisiana, including Gov. Jeff Landry.
“Of course, my first thought was for my children. It breaks my heart to think that someday they might see that video. My family has been through enough,” Lelow said. “I told John Fleming, please stop coming after my family.”
When asked about the PAC that released the anti-Fleming AI video and is supporting her, Letlow said she has no ties to the PAC and is not a supporter of AI in political campaigns. She will not be involved in regulating AI advertising.
“This issue needs to be seriously considered as we move forward, otherwise good people will not be able to run for office,” Letlow said.
Stock transaction application and campaign financing
Mr. Lelow and Mr. Fleming have been at loggerheads in recent weeks over campaign finance issues, including late filings of the lawmaker’s stock transactions referred to the House Ethics Committee.
“I have no direction on that portfolio. My advisor missed the deadline for that report, and when I found out, I immediately fixed it myself and it never happened again,” Lelow said.
He said Fleming admitted during the debate that he still accepted money from federal lobbying firms while serving as state treasurer.
“I think that’s the height of distrust,” Letlow said.
Campaign priorities
Mr. Leslow is running his campaign primarily by promoting the policies of the Trump administration.
“So we need a strong economy. Everything I do is about fighting for families. I want my kids not only to choose to live here, but I want them to have the opportunity to grow up here,” Lelow said.
Regarding carbon capture and sequestration, Letlow said he is opposed to companies taking over private land for projects through prominent lands.
“If it’s not safe, if it’s not transparent, if we don’t have community buy-in, we shouldn’t move forward,” Letlow said.
He declined to answer directly whether he supports using tax dollars to pay for carbon capture projects through Q45 tax credits.
“It was included in the One Big Beautiful bill. My question to John Fleming is, would you vote ‘no’ on OBBB?” Letlow said.
When asked whether taxpayers should pay for the project, she said voters need to hear more about how they feel about it.
Retro said he supports eliminating the Senate filibuster, which allows Republicans to pass the SAVE Act without Democratic votes. The bill would require a nationwide voter ID.
Asked if he was concerned that Democrats might use the same tactic when in power, Letlow said he was confident he would abolish the filibuster if he returned to power.
“Try it,” Lelow said.
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