Capt. Tiffany Foxworth District Judge on April 4

Background: On Saturday, April 4, voters in Central, Baker, Zachary, and Sherwood Forest will go to the polls to elect a new District Judge to replace Judge Beau Higginbotham. Four Democrats and no Republicans are seeking the seat.

CENTRAL — The Central City News is not in the habit of endorsing Democrats but sometimes a Democratic candidate is the best for the job. One of the few Democrats we’ve endorsed was a very able gen-

tleman named Ralph Washington. 

As a 14 year old, he was one of the first  black students to integrate East Ascension High School. From very humble beginnings and despite facing discrimination, he rose to be plant manager of one of the large petro-chemical plants in Ascension Parish. After retirement, he and his wife Carolyn moved to Central and helped start the new city.

When Ralph Washington decided to run for the Central City Council in our first election in 2005, few people gave him a chance. With a dozen or so other candidates, what chance would a black Democrat who didn’t grow up in Central have of being elected. To the surprise of many, Central loved Ralph Washington! He won with more than 70 percent of the vote! In turn, his colleagues on the City Council elected Ralph to be Mayor Pro-Tem of the City of Central.

What a fateful decision that was!

In 2006, when Rep. Bodi White offered the constitutional amendment to create the new Central Community School System, the Legislative Black Caucus began working against it. When it got to the hearing in the House Education Committee at the State Capitol, they appeared to have the votes to kill it. A black legislator began to rail against Central and what a racist place it was. He said the purpose of the proposed school system was to create lily white schools.

At that point, a tall, distinguished black man stood up in the committee meeting and angrily said, “Wait just a minute! Nothing you’ve said is true! My name is Ralph Washington, and I’m the Mayor Pro-Tem of Central. I know a lot about discrimination and that’s not Central! The purpose of this bill is to educate all the children of Central, regardless of race!”

His eloquent words hushed the opposition, and the bill passed overwhelmingly!  The new school system went into effect the next year. I wonder would have happened if that tall, courageous black Democrat had not been willing to jump up and defend the community he loved!  By the way, not long after that, Ralph switched to Republican!

When Army Capt. Tiffany Foxworth announced her candidacy for District Judge in the election April 4, I immediately thought of Ralph Washington. Tiffany too is a conservative Democrat, who is willing to tell the truth and face down people who do wrong.

Tiffany is a registered nurse. She joined the U.S. Army as a private and worked her way up to Captain — no small feat! In the Army, she served in Desert Storm and in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She proved she is “the real deal”!

Tiffany went to law school and earned her degree. She began the practice of law more than 15 years ago, representing ordinary people.

She is married to Dr. Jonathan Roberts, Jr., M.D., who practices internal medicine. They have one daughter, Tiffany-Elle, 10.

Tiffany Foxworth is a dedicated Christian.  Her beliefs include:

•Pro-Life

•Pro-Family

•Pro-Traditional Marriage

•Pro-Law and Order

•Pro-Law Enforcement

•Pro-Veteran, Pro-Military

Her value system is very much in accord with the values of the people of Central.

She is bright, hard working, and has excellent legal skills. She is a person of character who can be counted on to do the right thing.

She has worked very hard in this election to meet the people of Central. She has gathered a lot of support here and continues to work.

Two additional things:

• Last Saturday, Tiffany was attacked and robbed while campaigning in the Sherwood Forest area. She wasn’t hurt but she was justifiably shook up. It is possible that she was targeted. It will certainly make her a better judge, because she knows what it is like to be a victim of crime. But please pray for her that she will have piece of mind as she campaigns.

•The judicial committee that monitors candidates for judge this week criticized Tiffany for using the term “The People’s Judge” in one of her mailouts. They said it could be construed that she wanted people to think she was already a judge. That, of course, was not her intent. She was simply saying that she wants to represent “the people” not special interests. This is no big deal, but we wanted you to know about it.

We believe Tiffany Foxworth is the conservative in the race and will do a great job for the people of Central.  The Central City News is  proud to endorse Tiffany Foxworth for District Judge in the election on Saturday, April 4.

Early voting begins March 21 and ends March 28.