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Ted James for BR mayor? See what Sharon Weston Broome's office has to say about that
UPDATE: Ted James announced his bid for mayor-president at a February press conference.
BATON ROUGE — Ted James, a former Louisiana lawmaker who joined the Biden administration two years ago as a regional head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, said Wednesday he'll step down from the federal post next month. It's anticipated that he'll announce a bid to become East Baton Rouge Parish's next mayor-president.
The current mayor, Sharon Weston Broome, announced her re-election plans this month. In a statement, her office said she looks forward to a third term.
James told WBRZ on Wednesday that an official announcement won't be made until after he leaves the SBA's south-central region on Feb. 10.
In announcing that he was leaving his federal job, James said the agency expanded lending to minority-owned business, increased small business participation in government contracts and fostered new partnership for "small business ecosystems."
Broome and James are Democrats. No Republicans have yet to announce that they'll challenge Broome, who was first elected in 2016.
"Mayor Broome looks forward to a third term and continuing the transformative progress achieved in East Baton Rouge Parish over the past seven years," her office said. It touted the MovEBR road construction plan, a recent decrease in gun violence and an increased number of government contracts with minorities, women and veterans.
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James in 2022 left local politics to join the SBA. He had won election three times from state House District 101, which extends from Sherwood Forest northward to Monticello and westward to Merrydale. He defeated Tiffany Foxworth by a 3-to-2 margin in 2011 before being elected without opposition in 2015 and 2019.
He served as chairman of the Louisiana Black Legislative Caucus, and resigned to oversee SBA programs in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
James also was previously the director of the Baton Rouge office of the Urban League of Louisiana.
Broome is seeking a third and final term. She is the first woman to serve as mayor-president, taking office seven years ago after serving as a state senator, state representative and member of the Metro Council.
Broome won her second term in 2020 by defeating Republican Steve Carter in a runoff, 57 percent to 43 percent. In the primary that year, Broome received 48 percent of the vote and the only other Democrat in the race, Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, received 7 percent.
Four years earlier, Broome defeated Republican Bodi White in a runoff, picking up 52 percent of the vote against the then-state senator. She had led the primary with nearly one-third of the votes cast, while Marcelle and two other Democrats split 16 percent.
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