Julia Letlow

A voter arrives for early voting Friday, October 23, 2026, at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Lafayette, La.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks on camera with Democratic Senate candidate Jamie Davis.

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow and U.S. Sen. John Kennedy conclude a campaign rally in her run for U.S. Senate Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at RockÕnÕBowl in Lafayette, La.

Alexa Lapointe, left, gives a high-five to a coworker who also voted before early at City Hall in New Orleans, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. Early voting ran through 6 p.m. but it took until just after 7 p.m. before everyone who had arrived in time to vote made it through the line. STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER

Voters wait in line as early voting comes to an end at City Hall in New Orleans, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. Early voting ran through 6 p.m. but it took until just after 7 p.m. before everyone who had arrived in time to vote made it through the line. STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER

A voter arrives for early voting Friday, October 23, 2026, at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Lafayette, La.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks on camera with Democratic Senate candidate Jamie Davis.

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow and U.S. Sen. John Kennedy conclude a campaign rally in her run for U.S. Senate Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at RockÕnÕBowl in Lafayette, La.

Alexa Lapointe, left, gives a high-five to a coworker who also voted before early at City Hall in New Orleans, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. Early voting ran through 6 p.m. but it took until just after 7 p.m. before everyone who had arrived in time to vote made it through the line. STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER

Louisiana’s two U.S. Senate candidates – Democrat Jamie Davis and Republican Julia Letlow – urged people to cast ballots Tuesday on the final day of the early voting period, offering contrasting appeals that reflect the different tenors of their campaigns.

Davis held an open rally in New Orleans that ended with him second-lining with the Treme Brass Band and 100 supporters across the street to City Hall, which is one of the early voting locations in the city.

Pete Buttigieg, who served as the Biden administration’s secretary of transportation, joined Davis on stage at Duncan Plaza, along with U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, New Orleans-based actor Wendell Pierce and a host of local elected officials.

Letlow, meanwhile, visited six parishes in northeast Louisiana, as she winds up a 64-parish statewide tour where she is meeting with select audiences in closed-door settings.

“Make a plan, text 10 of your friends, go to the polls,” Letlow said in a video post Monday from Richland Parish on the social media platform X.

In New Orleans, Pierce warmed up the crowd by telling them, “We are going to send the first African-American senator from the state of Louisiana to the Capitol and flip that seat. I’m with the farmer.”

Letlow is a third-term member of Congress who now lives in Baton Rouge, while Davis is a farmer from Tensas Parish in the Delta region of Louisiana.

Now that the seven-day early voting period is over, both campaigns will analyze the voting figures Wednesday and make final strategy adjustments leading up to Election Day on Nov. 3.

Through Monday, the early voting numbers showed an unexpectedly high overall turnout and Black voters casting ballots in disproportionately large numbers. Davis needs both of these developments to have any chance of defeating Letlow in a state that Trump won by 22 percentage points and where no Democrat holds statewide office.

The map of states with Senate seats that Democrats might win on Nov. 3 has steadily expanded throughout the country to include Mississippi. But no national media have come to Louisiana yet to herald a possible victory by Davis, and the national parties have stayed out of the race.

Nonetheless, the early voting numbers and anecdotes of Republicans voting for Davis have led his campaign to become increasingly optimistic that he might pull off a shocking upset.

Davis is relying heavily on his background as a third-generation farmer who says he understands the difficulty of living with higher prices because he must contend with higher costs himself for diesel and fertilizer.

Without naming Trump, Davis in New Orleans blamed the affordability crisis on the “orange man” for attacking Iran and imposing tariffs on imported goods.

“It’s up to us to stop him,” Davis told the crowd of 150 people.

The visit by Buttigieg – who ran for president in 2020 and is seen as a likely aspirant in 2028 – buoyed the Davis campaign as a sign that he is threatening to topple Letlow.

Buttigieg told the crowd that he had just met Davis and noted he is from, “check me on this, am I saying it right? Trensas Parish?”

Buttigieg corrected himself and said Davis “has the integrity we need a lot more of in Washington, D.C.”

Trying to become better known, Davis has been granting interviews with any media outlet that will give him time, including with conservative talk radio hosts.

Letlow, however, has been far more selective, with many reporters saying her campaign won’t return phone calls.

She did do interviews remotely with two New Orleans stations – WWL-TV and WDSU-TV – on Tuesday.

She has refused to heed Davis’ calls for a debate.

“At this point she is in a four corners campaign,” Baton Rouge talk radio host Jim Engster said last week, referring to a basketball strategy from years ago where a team with the lead aims to close out the game by keeping the ball from its opponent. “She is trying to run out the clock.”

Engster made the remark when Davis appeared on his show, and he noted that Letlow hasn’t yet accepted an invitation.

Last week, Letlow appeared on the program of conservative talk radio host Moon Griffon, who had sought for weeks to interview her.

Letlow stayed for only one 15-minute segment – most guests stay for two.

She told Griffon that as she tours the state, “We’re here to listen, take notes, talk about hope and vision.”

Letlow said she offers voters “a strong conservative voice in Washington who will never forget where she comes from and her conservative values.”

Letlow expressed concern with the $40 trillion national debt, saying, “We’re rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.”

When Griffon asked her how she differs from Davis, she said she is “pro-life,” while Davis “opposes any restrictions on abortion.”

The Davis campaign contests that view in saying that and his partner had an unplanned pregnancy when he was young but had the baby and raised the child.

Davis, the campaign said in a statement, “believes women should be able to make private health care decisions without politicians interfering in deeply personal medical matters.”

Davis also appeared recently on Griffon’s program, as well on the shows of two other conservative talk radio hosts, Joe Cunningham in Lafayette and Jeff Crouere in New Orleans.

Last week, Davis appeared on the State of Freedom podcast hosted by two conservatives – Chris Alexander and Danielle Walker. Letlow, the hosts said, didn’t accept their invitation.

The two tried to pin down Davis on whether he would vote to impeach Trump.

“I can tell you right now that we got far more important things to do than wasting our time trying to impeach someone we can’t get an impeachment for,” Davis replied.

Pressed again, he said, “I’d need to see the evidence. I couldn’t tell you where I would land.”

Alexander asked Davis whether he would vote to expand the Supreme Court to give it more of a liberal tint.

“That’s another issue that is a waste of time,” Davis replied.

Alexander then asked what he would do if Senate Democratic leaders pressed him to support expanding the court.

“Chris, I’m going to tell you again,” Davis said. “I’m not beholden to nobody. I don’t owe nobody a damn thing, man.”

He added, “People want cheap gas. People want cheap groceries. People want to be able to afford their insurance.”

After the 45-minute interview ended, Alexander told listener