Here Are the Questions KPEL Listeners Want Moon Griffon to Ask Julia Letlow and John Fleming

LAFAYETTE, La. — We asked KPEL listeners what they wanted answered at Tuesday’s Republican U.S. Senate debate, and they didn’t hold back.

The Moon Griffon Show hosts Julia Letlow and John Fleming live from the KPEL studios in Lafayette from 9 to 10:30 a.m., co-moderated by Moon Griffon and KTBS-TV anchor Jeff Beimfohr. Bill Cassidy was invited and said no.

Here’s what Acadiana wants on the table.

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Carbon Capture and Eminent Domain: The Question That Won’t Go Away

Nothing else came close in the volume of listener responses. Voters want direct answers, and they want them without hedging.

For both candidates: Do you support or oppose using eminent domain to allow private companies to store CO₂ beneath Louisiana landowners’ property without their consent?

That’s not an abstract question. More than 65 carbon capture and storage projects have been proposed across Louisiana, spanning 18 parishes. The Louisiana Legislature voted down House Bill 7, which would have stripped eminent domain authority from CCS companies, 12-7 in committee in late March.

Fleming has been the most visible statewide opponent of CCS, showing up at Save My Louisiana rallies and backing HB 7. Gov. Jeff Landry has accused him of voting for bills in Congress that contained CCS funding. Fleming says those were broad energy and water appropriations bills and that large-scale CCS projects didn’t take off until after he left the House in 2017.

For Letlow specifically: Your fiancé, Kevin Ainsworth, is a Baton Rouge lawyer and lobbyist who works in the energy sector. How do you ensure that relationship doesn’t influence your votes on CCS policy?

For both candidates: Do you support repealing or reducing the federal Section 45Q tax credits that fund carbon capture projects?

Stock Trades and Disclosure: What the Record Actually Shows

A lot of comments used the phrase “insider trading.” The documented issue is narrower, but it’s still worth pressing on.

NOTUS reported that Letlow failed to disclose more than 210 individual stock trades on time as required by the federal STOCK Act. A hundred of those trades were reported more than a year late. The trades ranged in value from $225,000 to over $3 million.

Letlow told Fox 8: “I most certainly did not break federal law. I do not direct stocks. I do not sell stocks. I do not trade stocks.” Her office blames the late filings on her third-party investment manager at Merrill Lynch, which executed trades without notifying her in time to meet the 45-day reporting window.

Fleming’s response: “It is the member’s responsibility, solely. You can’t blame it or give excuses that your broker didn’t fill out the paperwork.”

For Letlow: You failed to disclose more than 210 trades on time under the STOCK Act. You’ve said the filings were your manager’s fault. The law puts responsibility on the member. What specific steps have you taken to fix the compliance problem, and will you commit to a blind trust in the Senate?

The Trump Endorsement: How Did It Happen?

Plenty of listeners want the story straight on this one.

For Letlow: Did you personally ask President Trump for his endorsement, or was it arranged through a third party? Walk us through how that happened.

Trump announced his endorsement of Letlow in January 2026. Several comments pointed to Gov. Landry as a facilitator. Letlow has said she “earned” the endorsement by being loyal to Trump’s agenda throughout her time in Congress. Fleming, who served as Trump’s deputy chief of staff at the end of the first term, has suggested the endorsement came without Trump’s full awareness of his candidacy. Letlow and Landry supporters dispute that.

Term Limits: Will You Commit?

For both candidates: President Trump has called for term limits — six years in the House, 12 in the Senate. Do you support that? And will you personally commit to serving no more than two terms if elected?

This came up in dozens of comments. Voters want a pledge, not a policy position.

Fleming’s Treasurer Record: Whose Money Is It?

One commenter’s question is worth putting directly to Fleming on air.

For Fleming: You’re Louisiana’s State Treasurer. Voters elected you to that job. How much time are you actually spending in that office versus on the campaign trail?

It’s relevant context: Amendment 3 on the May 16 ballot would liquidate the Education Excellence Fund and related education trust funds, roughly $2 billion total, to pay off teacher retirement debt and fund $2,250 raises for public school teachers. If voters approve it, the state treasurer executes the transfer. That’s a real job responsibility for someone in the middle of a statewide Senate campaign.

Cassidy’s No-Show: Say Something

For both candidates: Sen. Cassidy was invited and said no. What does that tell Louisiana voters?

He’s not in the room. Voters want both candidates on the record about it.

The Bigger Question

The Moon Griffon debate isn’t a general election event. It’s a Republican primary audience, conservative and engaged, exactly the voters who decide this race on May 16. These aren’t gotcha questions. They’re the ones your neighbors have been typing in Facebook comment sections, talking about at the kitchen table, and hashing out on the drive to work.

Tuesday morning, they get answers.

The debate airs from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on NewsTalk 96.5 KPEL and the full Moon Griffon Show network. You can also watch it on the KPEL News Facebook page.