State Treasurer John Fleming has claimed that the Trump administration has offered him positions in exchange for his withdrawal from the U.S. Senate race. The most recent contact was from Dr. Ralph Abraham, former Louisiana surgeon general, who was serving as principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Abraham subsequently left the CDC and was announced as the campaign chairman for U.s. Rep. Julia Letlow, who is also running for the Senate seat, did not directly ask Fleming to drop out of the Senate race during this conversation. WAFB political analyst Jim Engster called this situation "politics as usual" and suggested that Fleming was hoping the public would reject the backroom deals.