How Rep. Julia Letlow used grief to kickstart her run for House and Senate | RAISING AMERICA

0:01 Have you heard?

0:02 Louisiana's Congressional Primary is on hold.

0:05 The Supreme Court threw out the state's Congressional map, and in response,

0:09 Governor Jeff Landry has postponed those primaries,

0:14 even though early voting is underway.

0:15 That map, however, doesn't apply to the Senate race.

0:19 We sat down with Representative Julia Letlow,

0:22 who has a very unusual path to politics after losing her husband during COVID,

0:28 and she's been endorsed by President Trump, putting pressure on the incumbent,

0:32 Senator Bill Cassidy, as well as John Fleming,

0:35 a former Congressman and the state treasurer.

0:37 These are three well-known,

0:40 established GOP candidates trying to get that Senate seat.

0:44 Here's our conversation with Representative Letlow.

0:47 Representative Letlow, thank you so much for joining us.

0:50 I gave you the spiel, so on Raising America,

0:52 we're canvassing, we're trying to canvas just about every race.

0:55 We're doing our best, right, between now uh and the actual election.

0:59 And so, the midterms to us are fascinating.

1:01 We feel like there is more policy made

1:03 in the midterms than a presidential election year.

1:05 You're in a pretty tough race in Louisiana.

1:08 Set the scene for me.

1:10 What you know, what case you have viewers and listeners who aren't familiar,

1:13 why is it a big deal?

1:14 Why are there national implications?

1:16 And what are you running for?

1:17 Why do you want to change?

1:19 Yeah, so uh first and foremost,

1:21 uh the reason I wake up every day and fight so hard

1:24 is an 8-year-old little boy named

1:25 Jeremiah and my 6-year-old daughter Jacqueline.

1:28 I mean, they are the reason why I wake

1:30 up every day uh with that fire in my belly

1:33 to make sure that this is a country that uh

1:36 is similar to the same country that I grew up in.

1:38 Uh they have the same freedoms that I do.

1:40 Um and everywhere I go in Louisiana,

1:42 when I share that, people nod their heads and say,

1:44 "Yeah, uh that that's the reason why I wake up every day and fight so hard.

1:48 It's for our children, our grandchildren,

1:50 future generations." Um so, that is what fuels me.

1:53 That's what's always fueled me.

1:55 Um We can get a little bit into, uh, my story,

1:59 but I, uh, I never had plans to be in Congress.

2:02 I never thought I would be here.

2:04 My background's in education.

2:05 Uh, that is my passion,

2:07 and I thought that that was the calling that the Lord had on my life,

2:11 and, uh, sometimes your life, uh, a completely new door opens.

2:16 And so, uh, it's been the honor of my lifetime to serve

2:18 the people of Louisiana for the last 5 years in Congress,

2:21 and I thought that's where I would stay as long as the people would have me.

2:25 Um, and then you you the Lord opens another door,

2:28 and, um, I've built an incredible relationship, uh,

2:32 with the, uh, president's administration, and, uh,

2:35 he gave me his blessing and encouragement, uh, to run for the Senate.

2:40 And so, we are full steam ahead in a senatorial race in Louisiana.

2:45 Uh, it is it does have national implications, and, uh,

2:48 but I am running every day visiting all four corners,

2:52 uh, hearing from Louisiana about what matters most to them.

2:55 And again, it's an honor to run, uh,

2:58 for the Senate, just like it was for the House.

3:00 I want I do want to get to education cuz that's where your passion is,

3:03 and there has been some improvements,

3:05 but I'm I'm certain that you'll say it's not good enough going from 50 to 37th,

3:08 and why it's so important.

3:10 But I also I know your personal story cuz I

3:12 have spent time stalking you in a very respectful way.

3:16 Uh, but you're right, you fell into it,

3:20 and I and I know you keep saying that a door opened.

3:22 I can't imagine that it felt like the door opened for you.

3:26 Right.

3:27 Right.

3:27 Five Six Now 6 years ago.

3:28 I know you say five, but you had to campaign, so 6 years ago.

3:31 What happened?

3:33 Yeah, so, uh, um, I was just clicking along, uh,

3:36 fulfilling my dream in my career in higher education, and, uh,

3:40 my husband, Luke, I'm pretty sure he popped out of the womb

3:42 knowing that he was going to run for Congress one day.

3:47 [laughter] And worked so hard, uh, 20-plus years of his life,

3:49 uh, working for some, um, amazing public servants along the way.

3:53 And in his latest role,

3:54 he was the chief of staff for my predecessor, Congressman Ralph Abraham.

3:58 And so, I had this front row seat uh, to uh,

4:01 some of the inner workings of Congress uh, through his eyes.

4:04 But you know, he taught me something during those years.

4:07 I was a little skeptical of politics at first, you know,

4:09 I wasn't sure that everybody was in it for the right reasons and um,

4:13 he showed me that if you don't lose sight that this is not your seat,

4:18 it's the people's seat, and you represent them,

4:20 and you make the best decision that you

4:22 can based on their wishes and their representation,

4:26 uh, then you can actually do good for the people that you serve um,

4:30 through public service.

4:31 And I saw him do it, and it was an incredible experience.

4:34 And um, we were on one of life's mountaintops.

4:37 Um, you know, he had worked so hard.

4:39 Uh, it was during COVID, and uh, he won his race by like 60%.

4:45 It was incredible.

4:45 I was so proud of him.

4:47 Uh, and then tragically,

4:49 I lost him to COVID 5 days before he was set to be sworn in.

4:52 And uh, nothing prepares you for that kind of loss.

4:55 Uh, you just you fall to your knees.

4:58 First thing, one of the first things you think about um,

5:01 is, you know, how am I going to provide for my children?

5:04 I had two small children at the time.

5:06 And um, as I was prayer praying and and uh,

5:11 of course grieving with the shock and everything, um, you know,

5:14 Congressman Abraham came to me and said, "Julia, you know,

5:17 I've been talking to a lot of the people in the district,

5:20 and I really want you to go home and pray

5:22 about this, but if there's any desire or or uh,

5:27 calling in your heart to run for this seat, uh, I'd like you to pray about it

5:31 and consider it because you have the qualifications,

5:34 uh, you have um, what it takes,

5:36 but most importantly, you have the desire to serve.

5:39 And so, if you can walk this really hard walk, um,

5:42 I think that it it would be worthwhile uh,

5:44 for for to consider it." And so, I did.

5:46 I prayed about it, I had that peace from the Lord and um

5:50 and and we ran and we won at 65% against 12 people.

5:55 Yes.

5:57 actually.

5:57 And when I tell you that it has given my life so

6:00 much meaning and so much purpose to wake up every day and get

6:03 outside of myself and serve other people and that's really what I wanted

6:07 to show my children that when life knocks you down because it will,

6:11 will you give up or will you get up and keep moving forward with faith and hope?

6:15 And I'm so grateful to the people of Louisiana

6:18 for giving me this opportunity to move forward.

6:21 You know, what does grief mean to you as someone who knows it intimately?

6:28 And and the reason I bring it up is cuz

6:31 I I see that word tossed around a lot especially after

6:34 the Charlie Kirk assassination and it can when you say either

6:39 you you give up or you get up um you know, where does that come from?

6:44 That it that grief is crippling.

6:47 Right, right.

6:48 And I am no stranger to loss.

6:51 Um when I was 21 years old, I lost my 17-year-old brother in a car accident.

6:56 It devastated my family.

6:58 Uh we were so close, so tight and everyone grieves in different ways and one

7:03 one way that I found comfort in in my time

7:06 of grief at such a young age is I wanted

7:08 to read about other people's experiences and how they made it through.

7:12 And there really wasn't much out there on sibling grief.

7:14 There's a lot of in the literature about losing a spouse or a parent or a child,

7:19 but there wasn't much on sibling grief.

7:20 And I had some amazing professors at the time.

7:23 I was in graduate school and they said,

7:25 "Well, Julia, why don't you write about it?

7:26 Why don't you write your thesis on it?" And and I did

7:30 and it was cathartic for me to be able to write about that loss,

7:33 but also uh contribute to a deficit in the literature.

7:37 That parlayed into a PhD program where I wrote

7:41 a dissertation on how to find meaning after loss,

7:44 and I interviewed five different families and asked them that very question.

7:48 How do you get up?

7:49 How do you keep moving forward in the face of such tragedy?

7:52 And so, whenever, 20 years later,

7:55 the unthinkable happened yet again, I lost my husband,

7:59 I was I just had this tugging I it came out of nowhere.

8:02 It said, "Julia, go back and read what those what

8:05 those families said to you all those years ago." And I did.

8:08 I never imagined I'd go back and read a dissertation.

8:11 [laughter] But but the answer was clear.

8:14 Find a way to get outside of yourself to serve other people.

8:19 And that's where the healing lies.

8:21 And it really has for me to wake up every day and, you know,

8:25 put my makeup on, put my clothes on, and go out and and do the best

8:28 work that I can uh for other people has been such a healing experience for me.

8:34 It's almost like the a mind in motion, a body in motion stays in motion.

8:37 I mean, I don't mean to I don't mean to make it so simple.

8:39 And I don't I don't mean to to seem insensitive when I say that.

8:43 Uh I do want to get to some policy issues because you're very effective.

8:47 So, why why why go for a Senate seat?

8:51 You know, if you have influence right now, you have influence in education.

8:55 Do you feel as if you'll be more influential, more useful?

8:58 Are there certain policies that you want?

9:00 Cuz if you think maybe education,

9:02 you might be more effective as a representative.

9:04 Or is that wrong?

9:05 Tell me.

9:06 Yeah, so I of course you always uh if you're moving from one body to the next,

9:11 I'm sure that the uh the influence would be a bit greater on the Senate side.

9:16 But again, I just go back to uh my faith that uh for some reason,

9:21 the Lord opened this other door.

9:23 And uh I I don't hold on to it so tightly.

9:26 I I see I think some of of um other people get into politics because,

9:32 you know, they worked for it their entire lives,

9:34 and I I completely respect that.

9:36 Um but again, this I I never saw this path coming, so I it's not my seat.

9:42 I don't hold on to it so tightly,

9:43 and I think that that has uh given me what I need to make that leap

9:48 of faith to uh to give up my current seat to go over to the Senate side.

9:53 And and honestly, I believe

9:55 in the president's uh his agenda, his administration.

9:58 I believe that they're doing great work.

10:00 And I know that he needs somebody over on the Senate side

10:03 that he can depend on and who will continue to move that agenda forward.

10:07 And and so, I'm I'm honored to be that person and continue that good work.

10:12 What do you think separates you from the other candidates?

10:15 And and I understand the endorsement does, right?

10:18 I mean, that's that's a huge deal.

10:20 Um, and then I want to couple that with the fact,

10:22 and you're probably going to say no,

10:22 but could that endorsement maybe work as a disadvantage if,

10:26 let's say, maybe the war becomes less popular?

10:29 I'm just going to throw it out there.

10:30 I I'm I would I don't know what the the constituents of Louisiana feel.

10:34 In Louisiana, uh Trump's approval ratings are in the 90s um amongst Republicans,

10:40 and we're running in a close primary uh this this time around.

10:43 So, um it his endorsement means everything,

10:47 and uh that's really what I've been spending the most time getting out

10:50 educating the electorate that uh the president believes in in our work together,

10:55 and that will continue uh doing that.

10:57 So, it is it means everything in Louisiana uh moving forward.

11:01 And to answer your question about what I believe separates me a little bit,

11:05 and I don't want to uh sound callous about this, but um you know,

11:09 I'm 45 years old, and uh I'm willing to give my prime years

11:15 uh to serve the people of Louisiana for as long as they'll have me.

11:19 And um you know, so whether that's, you know, however long um I'm able to serve.

11:25 Now, when it's my time to go, I will definitely go.

11:28 [laughter] You won't be wheeling me out in a wheelchair uh on the Senate side.

11:31 I I will I'll do my work and then uh go back

11:34 and enjoy my life hopefully with grandchildren and and but you know,

11:39 I have a bit more youth on my side to be able to bring and give

11:44 those years to the people of Louisiana and I'm honored and willing to do it.

11:49 Yeah, you and I could talk term limits.

11:50 That could be a whole another show, right?

11:52 Sure.

11:54 [laughter] When I can we can put up a full screen and say this is why,

11:56 all right, you know, by our tax dollars.

11:59 So do us a favor and let's put some term limits on that.

12:03 Let me talk about your three like your and and I know

12:07 them because I read what what what do you want to continue?

12:10 What do you want to change?

12:11 When you talk about policies,

12:13 when you talk about what voters want, is it a ability?

12:16 Is it bringing jobs to we and and how can you do that on the Senate?

12:19 Yeah, definitely bringing jobs to Louisiana.

12:23 My goodness, we live in the land of opportunity in Louisiana.

12:26 God has blessed us with incredible natural resources.

12:29 I mean, you know, you've been down

12:30 there covering many of our stories down there,

12:34 but it is and and then just great hard-working

12:37 people who just want to to do a good job, provide for their families.

12:41 And when I speak to them,

12:42 it's not about how much more the federal government can do for them.

12:46 It's hey, can you get the federal government out

12:48 of my life and off my back, you know?

12:50 And so definitely want to fight for deregulation.

12:54 You know, we our hands have been tied severely

12:58 when it comes to unleashing domestic energy production in Louisiana.

13:02 We know how to do it best right out of the Gulf of America,

13:05 right off of our coast.

13:07 Um, you know, I've been able to to visit the oil rigs

13:10 and the platforms and while you know how important it is to Louisiana,

13:14 once you go see it up close and personal,

13:16 it becomes all too real about why we have

13:18 to be able to produce right here in our own country.

13:22 It's a matter of national security.

13:23 So continuing to fight for deregulation um that on that side of things

13:28 and and I do believe that that is tied to the economy.

13:31 That's uh tied to affordability.

13:32 You know, when we are when we're producing oil, LNG right here uh in Louisiana,

13:37 that's naturally going to start to bring prices down.

13:40 And so, um but always talking to people in Louisiana,

13:44 and you know, my fallback it's not a fallback.

13:47 I believe it with every fiber of my being that education is the answer.

13:51 Um I know it sounds cliché, but if you educate a child, you give them a future.

13:56 And I've spent a lot of time up here talking

13:58 to my colleagues about the investment on the front end.

14:01 You know, I believe in education at every level.

14:04 Early childhood is crucial.

14:06 Uh that is that 0 to 3 years old.

14:08 Uh we have to make sure that we are uh nurturing

14:11 our kiddos and and setting them up on a path to success.

14:14 I I share this with my sheriffs all the time that, "My goodness,

14:17 if we invest in early childhood, I don't have to go try to find dollars

14:22 for another jail for you uh because we're going

14:24 to put our kids on the right track."

14:26 And um we've been doing some amazing things in Louisiana.

14:30 We have an incredible governor,

14:31 Governor Jeff Landry, our superintendent, Cade Brumley.

14:35 You know, when Secretary McMahon came down,

14:37 she stopped in Louisiana first because she wanted to learn what practices are we

14:41 doing uh to make sure that kids are able to read by third grade,

14:46 where we came up so far in the rankings in such a short amount of time.

14:50 Um one of the funny things she said, I I asked her, you know,

14:53 "What what are you even working on?" And she said,

14:55 "Well, I'm going around to all the states

14:56 to try to find best practices." She said,

14:58 um "But I'm also working on getting fired." [laughter] Which was funny.

15:03 Um but I'm all for, you know, taking back that locus of control from the federal

15:07 government uh when it comes to educating our kids

15:10 and bringing that back to the states and local

15:12 governments and and school boards where it belongs.

15:15 Um we know best.

15:16 We've shown that in Louisiana.

15:17 We know best how to educate our children,

15:19 uh not the teachers unions um up in the northeast, you know, so uh,

15:24 I'm excited that uh, this administration is focused on that and uh,

15:28 would love to to continue helping them move that forward.

15:32 You know, education has been so fascinating for us to cover cuz you're right,

15:34 obviously you and I could look

15:36 at the statistics of literacy and incarceration rates.

15:39 So, you mentioned, you know, reading by by third grade and that early education,

15:46 we see states allocating funds for that.

15:50 But, I'm wondering does the state have it?

15:53 Is that something that you would promote?

15:55 And also, isn't that more of a state lawmaker and a a gubernatorial move?

16:00 So, is that something that you would That's why I'm

16:02 I'm sort of asking what you can do in the Senate.

16:05 Right.

16:05 I feel like I can be a champion for it.

16:08 Uh, it is it it should be handled uh, by the states.

16:11 Uh, you know, as an appropriator,

16:14 we appropriate funds for the Head Start program every year.

16:17 I have visited different Head Start programs.

16:19 They are not equal.

16:21 Uh, they are not the same uh, in every every state, every area.

16:26 Um, and that's that's unfortunate because again,

16:28 I go back to how how important early childhood education is.

16:32 You know, and then you talk about the federal government and the fraud that uh,

16:35 was uncovered in Minnesota with the and that is totally uh, discrediting and uh,

16:42 the the American people are losing trust

16:44 in in federal programs that are coming down.

16:46 So, yeah, I want to partner with the state

16:49 with my state and and see best practices.

16:52 I've seen parishes, we call them parishes

16:53 in Louisiana instead of counties that um,

16:56 that have really invested in these early childhood programs and uh,

17:01 are knowing that it's making an a a difference,

17:03 but they've they've educated the electorate that hey,

17:06 if you invest on the front end, uh, we as a parish will provide early

17:10 childhood education to every one of our citizens

17:13 and you're going to see it pay off um, 18 years from now.

17:17 So, uh, I just want to be more of a champion for it.

17:20 Well, the best sunshine, the best disinfectant is sunshine, too.

17:23 So, you've done a lot of There's a lot of disclosure

17:27 in Louisiana that we just don't see in other states.

17:30 So, I'm wondering if we start to see that as a trend.

17:32 But, there are other things that set me apart from Senator Cassidy.

17:36 You know, I did not vote for the 1.2

17:38 trillion infrastructure bill that he helped to write

17:41 with President Biden and all the Democrats because I

17:45 did not believe that Louisiana would get our fair share.

17:48 And we haven't.

17:49 There were marquee projects that were

17:54 in that infrastructure bill that went to other states.

17:57 I mean, billion-dollar projects.

17:59 Louisiana did not receive one that was over a billion dollars.

18:03 But, we are in desperate need for infrastructure in Louisiana.

18:07 In my hometown, we just had the worst ice storm in the history of the state.

18:12 It would have been great to have buried power lines that we

18:14 were promised in that infrastructure bill that never made it down.

18:17 We desperately need a new bridge in Baton Rouge.

18:21 That could have been a great marquee project

18:24 that we should have gotten in the infrastructure bill.

18:27 And you know, when it was time to vote for it, you know,

18:30 he was attacking me for not voting for it,

18:32 and I had these grave concerns about it.

18:35 And unfortunately, that came true.

18:38 Those dollars went to New Jersey, New York, California.

18:42 And those are our taxpayer dollars.

18:44 And so, why not wait until we

18:45 had the presidency with President Trump and Republicans

18:50 to be able to write an infrastructure

18:51 bill that would have really benefited our state.

18:53 So, that's just what And And deep buried in all

18:57 of those bills that you write with Democrats are,

19:00 you know, the green energy and all of these weird

19:05 weird programs in there that should not be with taxpayer dollars.

19:09 So, you know, it was a Democratic bill that he voted for.

19:13 I would never do that.

19:14 Yeah, I mean, I think unless you've been to southern parts of Louisiana,

19:17 you don't fathom what infrastructure means to have

19:20 access to some of those marshlands and those areas

19:24 that are really low-lying that could get smoked

19:27 by these hurricanes and they do in these natural disasters,

19:30 but your economy depends on it.

19:31 Yeah.

19:32 The people of Louisiana, I'll tell you what,

19:33 I was down there uh as I mentioned for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and I

19:38 don't think I paid for a shrimp po'boy and I've never tasted anything like it.

19:41 It was the best thing I've ever had in my life.

19:43 Um before I let you go, uh those attack ads, they're spicy.

19:49 Your you guys run some spicy campaigns down there.

19:54 [laughter] Are you tired [clears throat] of those campaign ads?

19:56 Do you promise your constituents they will have no campaign ads

20:01 for a long period of time cuz those things are those are heated.

20:04 Those are heated.

20:05 I you know, when I'm listening to constituents, they're tired of them.

20:10 Um my goodness, it's been five six weeks,

20:12 five weeks and I've had a million dollars a week in negative ads run against me.

20:17 Yes, I've seen them.

20:18 Yeah, and um and and our numbers are still

20:20 strong and that's what's so great about Louisiana is,

20:24 you know, I think that they see um they let it bounce off.

20:27 I mean, we're unfortunately used to them.

20:30 I loathe the negativity.

20:32 I wish we could just run on our record and what and our dreams

20:35 and and what we're going to do for the Louisiana moving forward.

20:38 Maybe one day we'll get back to races like that, but um but yeah,

20:43 the negativity is out there,

20:44 but it doesn't seem to be sticking and holding and and I'm grateful for that.

20:48 Well, I appreciate that.

20:49 Looks like you're right around the corner.

20:51 Uh May 16th, uh we're grateful for you joining us.

20:55 Um you're challenging Senator Cassidy.

20:57 So, we'll see how how it all works out.

20:58 Thank you so much, Representative.

21:00 Thank you so much.