Election 2010: Shreveport Mayor and Council

Shreveport City elections are coming up this year, and so far five people have thrown their hats in the ring to serve as mayor.
Cedric Glover
The current mayor is seeking a second term, hoping he can hold together the coalition of black and white voters that put him into office four years ago. He has some competition, however, that might eat into that coalition. Another Democrat, State Representative Roy Burrell, has challenged him for the position. Glover received national criticism when he told a local man, Robert Baillio, that when he had been stopped by the police his rights had ‘been suspended’. Rather than going into detail here, you can go to Conservative Drink and get the full story with audio of Baillios’s conversation with the mayor.
Parker Ward
The 18 year old Libertarian says that the Shreveport Police Department should be supervised closely to make sure that they are following the fourth amendment and according citizens their rights against unreasonable search and seizure. Parker’s candidacy has a lot of people clucking and shaking their heads. Personally, I like the fact that he is undeterred by the naysayers. Parker seems to believe in the American Dream and is pursuing his version of it. Parker told me that he believes that city government can be reduced in size. His vision of being mayor consists of not being intrusive into people’s lives and in assisting private businesses to grow. Parker doesn’t have a campaign website up yet, but does have a Facebook group.
Roy Burrell
State Representative Roy Burrell is running as a moderate Democrat, saying that he can work across party lines, something that Glover has had a problem with. Whether this has been caused by Glover’s actions or by Republicans who are determined to get someone elected to the top job remains to be seen.
Bryan Wooley
The popular Republican currently represents District D on the City Council. He is expected to make a much better candidate than Jerry Jones did in the last election. Jones came across as stiff and somewhat distant, whereas Wooley is very outgoing and seems to be able to connect with people. You can learn more about him on his website.
David Cox
David Cox currently serves on the Caddo Parish Commission as a Republican. He has announced that he will switch his party preference to Independent to run for mayor. I have been unable to find a website for Cox, and have very limited knowledge of his stands.
The Council
Now it gets interesting. The council will certainly see some new faces, with two councilmen (Monty Walford and Calvin Lester) being term limited, one running for mayor (Wooley) and two retiring (Joyce Bowman and Michael Long).
Lester has been a strong supporter of Mayor Glover. Rose Wilson-McCulloch has announced that she will seek the District A seat which comprises the Cooper Road area. Lester told me that he plans to enjoy being a private citizen for a while. He may not currently have plans to run for another office, but I’ll be surprised if he sits still for too long.
Three people have announced that they will seek the District B seat that Walford is vacating. Jeff Everson (R), Deborah Allen (D) and independent Craig Lee have all announced that they want to represent the district, which includes downtown and at least parts of the Highland, South Highlands, Stoner Hill, Claiborne and Caddo Heights neighborhoods.
Oliver Jenkins has announced that he will run for the District C position that Michael Long is leaving. Long has endorsed Jenkins.
Bryan Wooley’s District D seat so far has two contenders, both Republicans, Michael Corbin and Deanna Candler. Candler is a student at LSUS and operates a blog, Conservatism in Exile.
So far no one has announced to run against either Ron Webb (District E) or Joe Shyne (District F).
Attorney Sam Jenkins has announced that he will seek the Queensborough seat (District G) that Joyce Bowman is leaving.
We will be able to get a better picture once qualifying is done in early July. Until then, if you hear anything interesting, let us know.