Southern City Elects Its First Republican Mayor in Nearly Three Decades
Voters in Louisiana’s third-largest city have elected a Republican mayor for the first time in almost 30 years.
Tom Arceneaux, 71, won a runoff election Saturday to become the next mayor of Shreveport.
He defeated Louisiana state Sen. Greg Tarver, a black Democrat, in a city where roughly 55 percent of registered voters are African-American.
Tom Arceneaux is elected mayor of Shreveport | Local Politics | https://t.co/agYJuMM1XN https://t.co/zF3kkYxvMA
— Bernard (@ClastonB) December 11, 2022
Arceneaux and Tarver were the top two finishers in the November mayoral election, but neither won a majority of the vote, the Shreveport Times reported. That forced them into a monthlong runoff campaign.
Congratulations to my good friend Tom Arceneaux! He worked hard to earn the support of the people and become the first Republican mayor of Shreveport in more than 20 years! https://t.co/hFoWuk75CU
— Rep. Mike Johnson (@RepMikeJohnson) December 11, 2022
A restorer of historic homes who served on the Shreveport City Council in the 1980s, Arceneaux got a major boost during the runoff when he was endorsed by outgoing Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins and the city’s two previous mayors.
All three of them are black Democrats.
“You know, we have tonight looked beyond historical barriers and distinctions,” Arceneaux told supporters in a victory speech Saturday.
”We have a new future in the city of Shreveport, it will look different from what it did in the past.”
Perkins said he was backing Arceneaux because he questioned Tarver’s honesty and integrity, the Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
Former Mayor Ollie Tyler said Tarver had cast votes in the state Senate that were harmful to Shreveport, a city of 184,000 people.
In a concession speech, Tarver pledged to work with Arceneaux in helping Shreveport move forward, KSLA-TV reported.
“I am more concerned about the city of Shreveport and the future of the city of Shreveport, all of us must be concerned with that. We got to move forward,” he said.
“Anything that I can do or my family can do to help Tom run this city, we will support him all the way,”
Shreveport elected its last Republican mayor, Bo Williams, in 1994. He served a single term and left office in 1998.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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