Former University of Louisiana at Monroe President Nick Bruno remembers his former communications chief, Julia Letlow, as an infectiously positive and driven administrator.
“I’m one of her biggest fans, I don’t mind saying that,” Bruno said.
Letlow, representative for Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District since 2021, worked for Bruno during the entire 10 years of his presidency until he left the position in 2020. During her campaign for U.S. Senate, it’s been Letlow’s time at UL-Monroe that’s been placed under more scrutiny than her record on Capitol Hill.
A shift in expectations from his bosses, the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors, near the end of his tenure led the university to do more to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, Bruno said. DEI practices were put in place decades ago and became standard in colleges and universities in both red and blue states. Since the 2020 racial justice protests, DEI programs have become a target for conservative politicians.
Letlow’s opponents, particularly incumbent U.S. Sen Bill Cassidy, have used DEI to attack her, noting she once endorsed the practices as a college administrator and described herself as a “progressive leader” when she unsuccessfully applied to succeed Bruno as UL-Monroe president.
“I, too, have heard the tapes and heard recordings of her position on DEI,” Bruno said. “I cannot say how committed she was to that or not committed. I do know that it was the expectation of the [UL campus] presidents to embrace DEI within the system.”
“She never expressed any position for or against DEI at any time in my administration,” Bruno added.
Hundreds of former college faculty members have gone on to serve in Congress, including former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The jump Letlow made from university administrator to politics is far less common. In an increasingly politicized era for higher education, it is more common for a politician to become an administrator than the other way around.
Letlow is also one of 22 current members of Congress with a doctoral degree. She obtained her Ph.D. in communications from the University of South Florida in 2012. Her dissertation focused on sudden family loss and was dedicated to her late brother, Jeremy, who died in a car wreck when she was a teenager.
President Donald Trump, who has endorsed Letlow, has fanned the flames of the college culture wars with investigations into DEI and anti-semitism on campus, including a probe of the Louisiana Board of Regents.
Letlow’s campaign declined to make her available for an in-person, phone interview for this article before deadline. Through her campaign, she agreed to respond to questions by email.
When asked about her support for DEI during her time at UL Monroe, Letlow said the standards had been presented as a way to expand opportunities for students to achieve the American dream.
“But what I saw firsthand was that it was hijacked by the radical left and turned into something else entirely,” Letlow said via email. “It became about division, ideology, and identity politics. Once that became clear, I opposed it, and I’ve spent the last five years in Congress fighting against it.”
Letlow’s campus-to-Congress story is unique in other ways.
She was never meant to be the politician in her family. Her husband, Luke Letlow, was a longtime Republican operative and chief of staff to former U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham. When Abraham decided not to run for re-election in 2020, Luke ran for his boss’ seat and won.
But just days before he was set to be sworn into office, Luke died from COVID-19 complications at age 41, leaving Julia as a widowed mother to a toddler son and a baby girl.
Julia ran for Luke’s seat in a special election, won and has secured re-election twice.
“I was grieving the loss of my husband, raising two small children, and stepping into a role I never expected to take on, all at once,” Letlow said. “But I also felt a deep sense of responsibility to my family, to our district, and to the people Luke was preparing to serve, and I leaned on my faith every step of the way.”
“I also felt strongly that I wanted to be an example for my children — that when life knocks you down, because it will — will you give up, or will you get up and keep moving forward with faith and hope?” Letlow said.
Today, their son Jeremiah, 8, is a history lover, and daughter Jacqueline, 6, is on her way to becoming a singer, Letlow said.
Letlow also recently became engaged to lobbyist and lawyer Kevin Ainsworth. The pair announced their pending nuptials at the White House Christmas Party last year, and she has since relocated her family from the Monroe area to Baton Rouge.
Weeks after the party, Trump announced his endorsement of Letlow in the U.S. Senate race — before she had even announced she was running.
Letlow said Trump called her and personally asked her to run.
“I prayed about it, talked with my family, and ultimately decided to step forward because I believe in what he’s fighting for and I believe Louisiana deserves a senator who will work with him and not against him,” Letlow said.
Letlow is referring to Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial following the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 of that year. Though Cassidy has since tried to get back in the president’s good graces, his opposition to Trump at a pivotal movement has haunted him.
“That raised serious questions about trust and judgment, and I believe this race is about whether our state has a senator who is aligned with the people and their values,” Letlow said of Cassidy’s vote to convict Trump.
Since earning his endorsement, Letlow has cozied up to Trump and often invokes his signature “Make American Great Again” slogan. She’s also taken a page out of his campaign playbook, limiting her participation in forums and rejecting most broadcast debates. She took part in her first Senate race debate earlier this week, hosted by conservative radio host Moon Griffon.
Cassidy, who Griffon refers to as “Psycho Bill,” skipped the event, leaving Letlow and the other GOP contender, state Treasurer John Fleming, to take aim at each other.
Letlow defended her decision to skip televised debates, arguing it was important to use a format that “actually reaches Louisiana Republican voters.”
Trump’s support has not translated to fundraising sufficient to close the gap with Cassidy, who continues to lead both her and Fleming by millions.
Campaign finance reports released last month show Letlow raised just shy of $2 million in the first quarter of this year, compared to the $2.5 million Cassidy raised. Fleming raised only $45,000.
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