Coach Sid Led Central by 7,470 Votes, St. George by 15,684, Insuring Victory

Former Central High head football Coach Sid Edwards scored an historic victory off the playing field Saturday night, when he was elected Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish, defeating an eight-year incumbent.

Surprised Experts. Coach Sid surprised the political “experts” and defied the common wisdom to become the third Republican Mayor-President in parish history.

88 Percent in Central. Edwards won it with huge majorities in the City of Central, where he received 88 percent of the vote, and the new City of St. George, where he earned 74 percent of the vote.

In a parish that many see as racially polarized, Edwards’ campaign was not about race or party but about who could best solve the issues facing the parish — crime, blight, homelessness, and traffic gridlock.

Redefined Politics Here. The results of the election could redefine politics in the parish. An examination of the returns makes the racial divide seem irrelevant. 

About Community, Not Race. The precinct returns show that the election turned on community, rather than race.  The parish has 144,634 white voters and 131,604 black voters.  Both Edwards and Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome had plenty of crossover support.

The remarkable thing about the results was that two distinct communities — Central and St. George — voted heavily for one candidate, making it almost impossible for  the remainder of the parish to overcome his lead.  This was especially true since he was competitive in other areas of the parish

East Baton Rouge Parish has only had two Republican Mayor-Presidents, Tom Ed McHugh, who switched to Republican during his second term in 1995.  He was a Republican during his third and final four-year term from 1996 to 2000. He was followed by Mayor-President Bobby Simpson who served from 2000 to 2004.  

Simpson was defeated in 2004 by Sen. Kip Holden, who served 12 years until Sen. Sharon Weston Broome was elected in 2016.

Big money interests in the parish had been with Broome for the past eight years but many fell out with her and supported former Rep. Ted James in the Nov. 5, 2024, primary.

With $1.1 million, James was the favorite of many of the moneyed interests in South Baton Rouge.  Broome ended up raising $1.3 million during the course of the primary and runoff.

When Coach Sid Edwards qualified to run on the last day of qualifying in July, his entry into the race was met with derision by many, who gave him no chance.

However, those who knew and loved him had a different attitude.  They jumped onboard and began to tell their friends he was the right man for the job.

He started the campaign with no money — no money at all.

Until the last few days before the Nov. 5 primary, he had raised and spent only $80,000.

The Coach had an all-volunteer cast of campaign workers and no paid staff or consultants.

Despite the money gap, Coach Sid led in the Nov. 5 primary with 35 percent of the vote against 31 percent for Broome and 28 percent for James.

At the Central City News, we are proud to say we knew Coach Sid would win from the start.

On July 20, the day Coach Sid qualified, we posted on Central City News on Facebook that the Coach was “most likely to run first in the primary.”

It didn’t take a prophet to see the handwriting on the wall, although almost no one else could see it.

With only a single credible Republican in the race and two strong Democrats, it was clear the Democrats would divide their vote, leaving Coach in first place.  Why was that so hard for people to grasp?

The next thing that was clear about the election was that black voters were apathetic about the Democratic candidates — Kamala Harris, Sharon Broome, and Ted James.  

They were living in the Democrats’ world both at the national and local level.  Why would anyone be excited about voting for the status quo?  It was not enough for a candidate to be black.

The attacks between Sharon Weston Broome and Ted James were inevitable.  If you knew them, you knew their divide was deeply personal and that there were wounds that would not be healed.

When people asked me which Democrat would Coach Sid have a better chance to beat in the runoff, I answered them truthfully.  I said it didn’t matter because Sid would win easily no matter who he faced.

Ted James was Kamala Harris’ state campaign manager and had the most radical voting record in the legislature.  He would not be hard to beat.

Sharon Broome has been Mayor-President for eight years and has left the parish with a score of very serious problems.  There was no way she could win against any good candidate.

In the August 2024 St. George Leader, we wrote, “After 17 years as Athletic Director and head football coach at Central High, he is probably the most popular man in Central. He will likely emerge with 85 percent or more of the vote in Central [he received 88 percent].  Likewise, Coach Sid will carry St. George with 80 percent of the vote [he received 74 percent.] Sid Edwards runs a strong first Nov. 5 and wins Dec. 7 based on turnout and significant crossover voting. In August 2024, the fundamentals of the race for Mayor-President look good for Coach Sid.”

I could tell God’s hand was in this from the beginning! At every step, doors opened for Coach Sid and closed for his opponents.

Over the course of the campaign, we published 50,000 copies of the Central City News, 150,000 copies of the St. George Leader, and 124,000 of the Capital Report.

Who said newspapers are dead?