Candidates in November 5 Primary Election

The Republican Party has endorsed six candidates in contested races for six important offices on the Nov. 5 election ballot. 

The 17-member East Baton Rouge Republican Parish Executive Committee is entrusted with making decisions for party members. The committee is chosen by Republican voters at the time of the Presidential Primary every four years. Five members of the committee are elected parishwide and the remaining 12 are elected from each of the parish’s 12 Metro Council districts.

Republican candidates who ask to be considered for the endorsement make application, submit responses to 75 questions about their background and their political philosophy. The party investigates their personal background and invites them for an interview.  The interviews are in public. Voting by members of the executive committee is by secret ballot.

The parish executive committee held its most recent endorsement meeting on Wednesday, July 31 at Dearman’s restaurant in the Bocage Shopping Center.

The committee voted to endorse these candidates:

•Congress (new 6th district) – Sen. Elbert Guillory.  Guillory is a former member of the Louisiana House and Senate.  A long-time civil rights attorney, he is a champion of conservative causes and has millions of views on youtube and other social media.

• Louisiana Public Service Commission – Sen. Julie Quinn. Sen. Quinn is a former Jefferson Parish school board member and state senator.  She is a practicing attorney and conservative leader. She has promised to fight for consumers and protect Louisiana’s wide array of energy sources. She opposes carbon capture.  The district runs from Baton Rouge to Lafayette.

•Judge, First Circuit Court of Appeal – Judge Kelly Balfour. A graduate of LSU Law School, Balfour is deputy chief judge of the 19th Judicial District. He is secretary of the Louisiana District Judges Association. A conservative, Judge Balfour is expected to support the Constitution and the rule of law.

•Mayor-President, East Baton Rouge Parish – Coach Sid Edwards. An administrator, former Athletic Director, Dean of Students, and head football coach, Edwards has coached for 44 years including 10 years at Catholic High, seven years at Redemptorist, and 17 years at Central High.  He was NFL National Coach of the Year. He is currently Dean of Students and head football coach at Istrouma High School in North Baton Rouge.

Coach Sid’s platform calls for four things:

1-An all-out attack on crime, improving the parish jail, and making the city safe.

2-Make our city beautiful, eliminating blighted buildings and homelessness

3-Improve our infrastructure, especially on parish roads, breaking traffic gridlock

4-Economic development, which he says begins with doing 1, 2, and 3, so that Baton Rouge is a place where business wants to invest and grow.

•Metro Council, District 1 – Brandon Noel.  A banker in Zachary, Noel represents Zachary and Central.  A conservative, he works for less government and lower taxes on the Metro Council.  Councilman Noel was just elected Mayor Pro-Tem by the Metro Council.

•Metro Council, District 11  – Laurie White Adams.  A four-year veteran of the Metro Council, she is seeking her second term. A long-time employee at Parkview Baptist School, she is now director of governmental affairs at the Pelican Institute.  She is a conservative voice on the Metro Council.