2022 Shreveport mayoral election
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 Second round precinct results Arceneaux: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Tarver: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Louisiana |
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 Government |
The 2022 Shreveport mayoral election took place on November 8, 2022, with a runoff election on December 10 because no candidate obtained a majority of the vote in the first round. It selected the next mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana. Incumbent Democratic mayor Adrian Perkins sought re-election to a second term in office, but finished fourth in the general election. Former Shreveport City Councillor Tom Arceneaux, a Republican, and Louisiana state senator Gregory Tarver, a Democrat, advanced to the runoff election. Besides Perkins, other candidates eliminated in the general election include Caddo Parish Commission president Mario Chavez and city councillor LeVette Fuller.[1]
In the runoff, Perkins and the two previous mayors of Shreveport, all black Democrats, endorsed Arceneaux, a white Republican, over Tarver, a black Democrat. They emphasized that their endorsement was based on personality rather than politics and that they believed Arceneaux to be best for the job. However, they also criticized Tarver for voting against the Justice Reinvestment Act, a 2017 sentencing reform bill championed by Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards. Tarver was endorsed by other prominent Democrats, including Edwards and former mayor Keith Hightower, as well as Republicans including Louisiana Senate president Page Cortez.[2]
The runoff was hotly contested, with both men facing attack ads over accusations of domestic violence against them in the past. Tarver was also criticized because he lived outside of Shreveport until 2021 and his wife received $600,000 in contracts from riverboat casinos that he helped bring to the city. Tarver and Arceneaux denied wrongdoing in all cases and called for the outside groups running the negative ads to pull them from the air. A crucial issue in the race was crime. Tarver was described as running a "tough on crime" campaign and said he would gather law enforcement agencies to develop a plan for reducing violent crime, while Arceneaux believed the best strategy to reduce crime was to improve neighborhoods affected by blight, and proposed imposing liens on blighted property to encourage the owners to improve or sell them.[3]
Arceneaux won the runoff election with 56% of the vote to 44% for Tarver.[4] This was the first Shreveport mayoral race won by a Republican since 1994.[5]
Candidates
[edit]Democratic Party
[edit]Perkins was initially disqualified from the race by the First District Court of Louisiana for listing the incorrect address on his notice of candidacy. However, the Louisiana Supreme Court overturned that ruling and allowed Perkins's candidacy to continue in a 4-3 decision, ruling that answering certain questions incorrectly on a notice of candidacy is not grounds for immediate disqualification.[6]
Declared
[edit]- LeVette Fuller, Shreveport City Councillor[7]
- Tracy Mendels, former police officer and U.S. Army seargent[5][8][9]
- Adrian Perkins, incumbent mayor[5][8][9]
- Gregory Tarver, Louisiana state senator[10]
- Darryl Ware, former volunteer for the Elizabeth Warren 2020 presidential campaign[5][8][9]
Republican Party
[edit]Declared
[edit]- Tom Arceneaux, attorney and former Shreveport City Councillor[5][8][9]
- Melvin Slack, evangelist[11][12]
Withdrew
[edit]- Jim Taliaferro, at-large Caddo Parish commissioner and candidate for mayor in 2018[8] (running for city council)[13][9]
Independents
[edit]Declared
[edit]- Mario Chavez, president of the Caddo Parish commission[5][8][9]
- Julius Romano[12]
Libertarian Party
[edit]Declared
[edit]General election
[edit]Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tom Arceneaux | 14,709 | 28.46% | |
| Democratic | Gregory Tarver | 12,202 | 23.61% | |
| Independent | Mario Chavez | 9,458 | 18.30% | |
| Democratic | Adrian Perkins (incumbent) | 9,090 | 17.59% | |
| Democratic | LeVette Fuller | 5,029 | 9.73% | |
| Democratic | Tracy Mendels | 379 | 0.73% | |
| Democratic | Darryl Ware | 298 | 0.58% | |
| Libertarian | Lauren Ray Anderson | 233 | 0.45% | |
| Republican | Melvin Slack | 147 | 0.28% | |
| Independent | Julius Romano | 132 | 0.26% | |
| Total votes | 51,677 | 100% | ||
Runoff
[edit]Endorsements
[edit]- Municipal officials
- William Bradford, former Shreveport City Attorney[15]
- Cedric Glover, Louisiana state representative and former mayor (Democratic)[2]
- Adrian Perkins, incumbent mayor (Democratic)[2]
- Jim Roberts, former Shreveport Chief of Police[15]
- Ollie Tyler, former mayor (Democratic)[2]
- Statewide officials
- State legislators
- Page Cortez, president of the Louisiana Senate (Republican)[3]
- Barrow Peacock, state senator (Republican)[3]
- Municipal officials
- Keith Hightower, former mayor[17]
- Municipal officials
- LeVette Fuller, Shreveport City Councillor and 5th-place finisher in the primary election (Democratic)[3]
Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tom Arceneaux | 20,724 | 56% | |
| Democratic | Gregory Tarver | 16,040 | 44% | |
| Total votes | 36,764 | 100 | ||
| Republican gain from Democratic | ||||
References
[edit]- ^ "Fuller, Perkins concede mayoral race; Tarver and Arceneaux to meet in runoff Dec. 10". November 9, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Trio of current, past Democratic mayors announce support for Republican Arceneaux".
- ^ a b c d "A 'wild' Shreveport election ends Saturday when Greg Tarver or Tom Arceneaux will be mayor".
- ^ "Arceneaux wins mayor-elect for City of Shreveport".
- ^ a b c d e f Dante, Kendrick. "Who's running for Shreveport Mayor in 2022? Here's a list of candidates". Shreveport Times.
- ^ Dante, Kendrick (August 19, 2022). "Shreveport mayor reinstated into 2022 elections, court says candidates can falsify some info". Shreveport Times. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
- ^ Dawson, Daffney. "Councilwoman LeVette Fuller announces candidacy for Shreveport mayor". KSLA 12 News. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "Who is running for Shreveport Mayor? 6 already declared". KTAL 6 News. March 18, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Patterson, Destinee. "Who's running for Shreveport mayor?". KSLA 12 News.
- ^ Heyen, Curtis (July 18, 2022). "Sen. Greg Tarver wants to be Shreveport's mayor". KSLA 12 News. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
- ^ Dante, Kendrick (August 24, 2022). "Shreveport mayoral candidate left race because his mom told him to; now he's back in". Shreveport Times. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
- ^ a b c Dante, Kendrick (July 21, 2022). "Unannounced candidates qualify for Shreveport mayoral election; incumbent to qualify Friday". Shreveport Times. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
- ^ "Jim Taliaferro suspends mayoral campaign, announces run for City Council". KTBS 3 News.
- ^ Patterson, Destinee (August 3, 2022). "Lauren Anderson says Shreveporters should elect someone 'honest'". KSLA 12 News. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
- ^ a b "Former Mayor Glover, current Mayor Perkins announce support of Arceneaux for mayor".
- ^ "Governor John Bel Edwards endorses Greg Tarver in Shreveport mayor's race".
- ^ "Mayor Perkins, Gov. Edwards announce endorsements for upcoming mayoral runoff".