US Rep. Julia Letlow says she won’t seek LSU leadership job

One of the leading contenders for LSU’s vacant leadership role has removed her name from consideration.  

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, a Republican from Northeast Louisiana whose district includes LSU, took herself out of the running Wednesday morning during an interview on “Mornings with Brian Haldane” on Talk 107.3 in Baton Rouge. 

“I’ve prayed about it. I’ve decided that now is not the right time to pursue the presidency of LSU,” Letlow told Haldane. 

Before her entry into politics, Letlow was a top administrator at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. She ran for Congress in 2021 to replace her husband, Luke Letlow, who died in from COVID-19 five days before he would have been sworn into office. Julia Letlow has won re-election in 2022 and 2024.

Though Letlow was considered a top candidate for the LSU job, she is also hearing calls to enter next year’s U.S. Senate election as a primary challenger against Bill Cassidy. She has not yet announced whether she will enter the race.  

LSU is now officially accepting applications for its top position, which will not be split despite months of speculation that the LSU Board of Supervisors would separate the president and chancellor jobs. 

A listing that went up late last week on HigherEdJobs.com and other higher education job websites says the LSU president leads “as the chief executive for both the LSU System and the LSU A&M campus.” 

The ad was posted three months after former President William Tate announced he was vacating the position for the same job at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Tate left the job amid rumors LSU would split the president and chancellor positions, which were combined in 2012. 

Multiple LSU board members confirmed to the Illuminator they were having discussions about splitting the roles, but LSU Board Chairman Scott Ballard said in an interview last spring he did not believe it was necessary. 

In addition to Letlow, several other Louisiana candidates are rumored to be considering applying for the job. 

McNeese President Wade Rousse said he will make a decision about whether he will apply for the LSU position when he returns from traveling to the Southland Conference meetings in Dallas this week. Rousse is favored for the job by LSU Board Vice Chairman Lee Mallett, who is a close ally of Gov. Jeff Landry,

Interim LSU President Matt Lee, who is also a potential candidate for the permanent job, has not yet responded to a request for comment. 

The LSU job is likely to draw applicants from across the country. The search committee last month announced LSU had hired a local executive search firm to lead the process.