BATON ROUGE — Republican candidates for a U.S. Senate seat opened a 13-week fight for their party's nomination Friday, with major candidates trading claims over who would best represent deeply red Louisiana in Washington.

Incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy and Rep. Julia Letlow qualified for the race Friday, joining state Treasurer John Fleming. Also in the GOP primary is Mark Spencer of Belle Chasse.

Seeking the Democratic nomination are Nick Albares and Gary Crockett of New Orleans and Jamie Davis of Ferriday.

Gov. Jeff Landry, who is not on the ballot, criticized Cassidy on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying the two-term senator had blocked an effort to add a conservative judge to the federal court in Baton Rouge. Cassidy noted that the Baton Rouge-based district hasn't had a vacancy since Cassidy went to the Senate in 2015.

"Everything that the governor alleges is false. Period. If the governor wants to suggest somebody for me to nominate, i’m happy to listen to that suggestion," Cassidy said after signing paperwork to enter the race. "I think what the governor is trying to do is distract from the principal issue here, which is who is better for the state of Louisiana and who has the more conservative voting record."

Letlow said her five years in office, mostly representing northeastern Louisiana, benefited all of the state.

"My freshman year, we were able to get on a very powerful committee called the appropriations committee," Letlow said Friday. "While i believe that far too many of your tax dollars go up to Washington, it’s been the honor of a lifetime to sit at that table and bring as many of those dollars back to louisiana where they belong because they are your dollars and we have done that."

Fleming said after entering the race Wednesday that he was the only conservative in the race.

"I think this is going to be a very good race – a choice between two liberal Republican candidates and one true conservative," he said. "And I of course am the outsider. Glad to be there. I’ve always run as the outsider."

Fleming had said Landry helped Letlow win President Donald Trump's endorsement for the seat so Landry could eventually make his own run for the Senate. Landry said Fleming had made up the story and "may not be fit for office."

Letlow's entry in the Senate race, which she announced last month, left open her 5th District post, which now covers an area from the Arkansas border north of Monroe to the Mississippi border east of Bogalusa. A fulcrum sits at the Old River Control Structure, balancing the district between south and north Louisiana.

The race drew seven Republicans and five Democrats.

Top races will have party primaries this year after lawmakers changed the way Louisiana chooses members of its congressional delegation and some state offices. In addition to the U.S. Senate seat and all six congressional seats, the ballot this year includes spots on the Louisiana Supreme Court, Public Service Commission and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The Secretary of State's office has the complete list of candidates. Among the major races:

U.S. Senate
Nick Albares of New Orleans (D)
Gary Crockett of New Orleans (D)
Jamie Davis of Ferriday (D)
Bill Cassidy of Baton Rouge (R)
John Fleming of Minden (R)
Julia Letlow of Start (R)
Mark Spencer of Belle Chasse (R)

1st Congressional District
Lauren Jewett of Metairie (D)
Jim Long of Metarie (D)
Randall Arrington of Ponchatoula (R)
Steve Scalise of Jefferson (R)

2nd Congressional District
Troy Carter Sr. of New Orleans (D)
Renada Honey Collins of New Orleans (D)

3rd Congressional District
John Day of Lake Charles (D)
Tia LeBrun of Sulphur (D)
Caleb "With A C" Walker of Lafayette (D)
Clay Higgins of Lafayette (R)

4th Congressional District
Conrad Cable of Farmerville (D)
"Matt" Gromlich of Greenwood (D)
Mike Johnson of Bossier City (R)
Joshua Morott of Benton (R)
"Mike" Nichols of Pitkin (R)

5th Congressional District
Jessee Fleenor of Loranger (D)
Larry Foy of Winnsboro (D)
Lindsay "Rubia" Garcia of Walker (D)
Dan McKay of Bunkie (D)
Tania Nyman of Baton Rouge (D)
Misti Cordell of West Monroe (R)
Michael Echols of Monroe (R)
Rick Edmonds of Monroe (R)
Austin Magee of Franklinton (R)
Michael Mebruer of St. Francisville (R)
Blake Miguez of New Iberia (R)
Samuel "Sammy" Wyatt of Denham Springs (R)

6th Congressional District
Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge (D)
Monique Appeaning of St. George (R)
Larry Davis of Livingston (R)
Christian "Chris" Johnson of Greenwell Springs (R)
Peter Williams of Lettsworth (R)

Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court District 1
William "Billy" Burris of Covington (R)
Blair Downing Edwards of Hammond (R)

Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court District 3
Cade R. Cole of New Orleans (R)

Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court District 4
Jay B. McCallum of Farmerville (R)

Public Service Commission District 1
Connie Norris of Slidell (D)
Stephanie Hilferty of New Orleans (R)
Wallace "Wayne" Cooper II of Robert (R)
"Big John" Mason of Metairie (R)
Mark Wright of Covington (R)
John Young of Metairie (R)

Public Service Commission District 5
James Edward Green of Shreveport (D)
Austin Lawson of Bossier City (D)
John E. Atkins of Shreveport (R)
Aiden C. Joyner of West Monroe (R)

Board of Elementary and Secondary Education District 1
Angela Hershey of Madisonville (D)
Joseph Cao of Harvey (R)
Michael Hollis of New Orleans (R)
Ellie Schroder of Abita Springs (R)