JOHN E. SETTLE JR. EDITOR PUBLISHER
Geez, it’s almost a month to Labor Day.
In the "good ol’ days," local political races started on the first Monday in September at a big Labor Day Rally at Hamel's Park.
The month of August was dedicated to getting in the last of vacations, getting the kids ready for and then back in school and then (whew!) taking a break.
The November elections were not topics of conversation — just the heat and lack of rain. And any political gossip was about the elections of the current year — NOT two years away!
Blame it on the COVID pandemic. Everything else that is not going "right" is because of it. A universal, omnipotent villain.
OK, the entry of Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins into the United States Senate race has became an immediate conversation topic. Some good and some bad.
There are four possible outcomes for Perkins.
The first is he wins and goes to Washington as a U.S. Senator.
The second is that he loses, and Joe Biden wins. The thinking is that Biden will reward Perkins with a D.C. job for taking one for the Democratic team.
The third is that both Perkins and Biden lose. Then Gov. John Bel Edwards could reward Perkins with a high-level appointment in Baton Rouge.
The last is that Perkins stays in Shreveport as mayor and finishes his term in December 2022. In this event, his electability for a second term could be an open question.
And it is these suppositions that have suddenly fueled tongue wagging by local politicos. Maybe it is the August political swoon, but nonetheless the chatter has started about possible mayoral candidates for next election.
Names being bandied about include new faces and old ones.
The new ones include former city attorney Will Bradford, former Shreveport Chief Administrative Officer Brian Crawford and lobbyist Markey Pierre.
Those currently holding office that may in the mix include State Representative Sam Jenkins, city council member Levette Fuller and former mayoral candidate now Caddo Commissioner Steven Jackson.
All of these potential candidates are African-American, with the exception of Crawford, who is white.
It’s a long, long time until the 2022 election. But no doubt the potential mayoral candidates will have a much higher local profile starting in January.
In the meantime, there IS a big ballot for Noember. that includes U.S. president, U.S. Senate, Caddo DA, Shreveport city marshal and five judicial races. There are plenty of politics to discuss, without even mentioning Shreveport's next mayoral race.
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE August 7 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR.