Yes, it is THE major political story of the year for Caddo Parish--Sheriff Prator pulling the plug on his all but guaranteed victory of another term as Caddo Sheriff.
His decision leaves Henry Whitehorn as the only announced candidate in the race.
Former sheriff candidate Eric Hatfield, who was trounced by Prator in the last election, is kicking the political tires for this race.
So, let evaluate Whitehorn's campaign at this juncture:
1. Shreveport attorney Josh Williams is a major player even though his campaign title if any is unknown.
Whitehorn's campaign headquarters are located in William's law office on Jewella. Williams was a mover and shaker in both Adrian Perkins's campaigns for mayor. His political acumen and influence, or lack thereof, was certainly revealed in Perkins' fourth place finish last year in the mayoral race.
2. Whitehorn is an African American Democrat, which will guarantee him a certain percentage of the vote, maybe as much as 25% from the start. However, the entry of another African American and/or a Democrat in the race will cause problems for Whitehorn.
3. Whitehorn can NOT expect the majority of the vote because of the dissatisfaction of many voters, black and white, for several reasons:
a. as CAO for Mayor Perkins, Whitehorn was not that approachable and was very bureaucratic in his actions.
b. Perkins won his first election with the strong support of the white voters in SE Shreveport. The majority of black voters cast their ballot for Ollie Tyler who lost to Perkins in the run-off. Whitehorn's affiliation with Perkins will NOT help his Sheriff campaign and most likely will hurt him without regard to his performance as CAO.
c. Whitehorn's professed best friend and neighbor is long time political operative Lynn Braggs, which brings much more baggage than credibility to a Whitehorn campaign.
d. Despite holding many important job positions, Whitehorn has never run a political campaign and he may have difficulty in pressing the fresh, much less impressing Joe Q. Citizen on the streets and convincing Joe to vote for him.
e. Whitehorn was appointed Shreveport Police Chief by former mayor Cedric Glover who is either liked or despised by many Shreveporters. Glover will have his own political battle this fall in a race for state senate and any political karma he has will probably not be expended on Whitehorn. The relationship of
Whitehorn to Glover is most likely more of a negative than a positive.
f. Whitehorn was a major player in HEALTH INSURANCEGATE last year that resulted in the change of the primary health insurance carrier for city employees and retirees from WK Health System to Ochsner as the tier one provider. One can assume that the WK crowd and the city employee/retirees will be a major block of votes that look for anyone but Whitehorn.
g. Sheriff Prator has made it clear that he is looking for a candidate to endorse--and it’s NOT Whitehorn or Eric Hatfield. Prator will not be a lame duck by any stretch of the imagination for the next year as Sheriff and he has said he will be more proactive and aggressive in his last year in office.
h. Prator has returned $300,000 in 2023 campaign donations since his decision. A candidate endorsed by Prator can anticipate that as much as $200,000 of those dollars will then be sent to the Prator endorsed candidate.
i. Whitehorn's long tenure of service as SPD Chief, Louisiana State Police Superintendent and Shreveport CAO provides a fertile field for campaign examination/attack and the portrayal of Whitehorn, who is 69, as a career bureaucrat just looking for another paycheck.
j. Prator had and still has a well-oiled political machine that will greatly assist a candidate that he endorses. Prator can be expected to be the lead cheerleader for a candidate he considers worthy of the position and with Prator's assistance that person can inherit much of the Prator campaign support and organization.
Bottomline, Prator's decision does help Whitehorn. But any boost in Whitehorn's campaign will be short-lived if a candidate gets Prator's endorsement.
As Prator said on KEEL Radio if you want a change in the Sheriff's office, vote for Whitehorn or Hatfield.
But if you don't, "hold your money."
One can only surmise that most if not all of the returned $300,000 will be held, and then directed to a new candidate.