BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow sat down with WAFB to discuss the Republican Senate Primary Runoff Election as early voting is underway.<\/p>\n
Letlow graduated from the University of Louisiana Monroe with a bachelor\u2019s degree in speech communications and earned her doctorate in philosophy from the University of South Florida in 2012. She served as director of education and patient safety for Tulane University\u2019s School of Medicine in 2018 and was a finalist for president of ULM in 2020.<\/p>\n
A video from her interview for that job in which she defended the university\u2019s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies served as some firepower for her opponents, earning her the label \u201cLiberal Letlow\u201d. Since then, she says her position on DEI has evolved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t really know what it was back then, and then once I witnessed it because I was in higher Ed, I witnessed the left completely hijack it,\u201d Letlow said. \u201cAnd turn it into something that was Marxist indoctrination of our children, holding people down instead of encouraging them to go achieve the American dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Letlow said she has spent the last five and a half years in Congress fighting against DEI.<\/p>\n
AI-generated video controversy<\/p>\n
After the 2020 video was recorded, Letlow lost her husband, Congressman Luke Letlow, to COVID-19. She was then appointed to fill his seat in Congress. An artificially generated video of the congresswoman referencing her late husband was reposted by Fleming.<\/p>\n
The video drew pushback from many Republicans in Louisiana, including Governor Jeff Landry.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first thoughts, of course, went to my children, and thinking about them possibly seeing that video one day just kind of breaks your heart. My family\u2019s been through enough,\u201d Letlow said. \u201cI\u2019ve shared with John Fleming, please stop going after my family members.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked about PACs supporting her that have put out anti-Fleming AI videos, Letlow said she has no affiliation with PACs and is not a fan of AI in political campaigns. She would not commit to regulations on AI advertisements.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something we are gonna have to take a really hard look at moving forward or otherwise good people won\u2019t run,\u201d Letlow said.<\/p>\n
Stock trade filing and campaign finance<\/p>\n
Letlow and Fleming have sparred in recent weeks over campaign finance issues, including a late filing on the congresswoman\u2019s stock trades that was referred to the House Ethics Committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no direction over that portfolio, my advisor missed a deadline on that report, and when that was brought to my attention I quickly rectified that myself and it never happened again,\u201d Letlow said.<\/p>\n
She said Fleming admitted in a debate that he was still taking money from a federal lobby firm while serving as state treasurer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think that that is the height of untrustworthiness,\u201d Letlow said.<\/p>\n
Campaign priorities<\/p>\n
Letlow is running a campaign driven largely by the Trump administration\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we need a strong economy; everything that I do is gonna be fighting for our families. I want opportunity for our kids to not only choose to live here but thrive here,\u201d Letlow said.<\/p>\n
On carbon capture and sequestration, Letlow said she is against companies taking over private land for their projects through eminent domain.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s not safe, if it\u2019s not transparent and it doesn\u2019t have community buy-in, it should not move forward,\u201d Letlow said.<\/p>\n
She would not give a direct answer on whether she supports using tax dollars to pay for carbon capture projects through 45Q tax credits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was included in the One Big Beautiful Bill; my question to John Fleming is, would you have voted \u2018No\u2019 on the OBBB?\u201d Letlow said.<\/p>\n
When pressed on whether taxpayers should pay for the projects, she said she would need to listen to her constituents more on how they feel about it.<\/p>\n
Letlow said she supports getting rid of the Senate filibuster to allow Republicans to pass the SAVE Act without Democrat votes. The bill would require voter ID across the country.<\/p>\n
When asked if she was concerned that Democrats could use the same tactic when they take power, Letlow said she is convinced they will eliminate the filibuster when they get back in charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo it,\u201d Letlow said.<\/p>\n
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