Black women candidates benefit from presidential turnout

By Christopher Tidmore
Contributing Writer

The first evidence of massive electoral change on the local level came when lines stretched around the block at polling places throughout the metro area on November 3. Louisiana was not in contention as a swing state in the presidential contest, yet voters treated the day as if it were. Even accounting for one million early votes, Election Day turnout still was huge, and that had serious implications in the down ticket contests.

A slew of Black female candidates swept in the office last Tuesday, or nearly achieved that goal. By 10 p.m. on Election Day, almost every white male judge in Orleans Parish in a contested contest had lost reelection – except for Municipal & Traffic Court Jurist Paul Sens, one of the few incumbents not to face a Black woman as a challenger.

Victories by African-American females shocked the established Orleans Parish political world. The night began with Jennifer Medley’s upset win against Civil District Court Chief Judge Chris Bruno, a highly respected Caucasian jurist from a noted political clan. Juana Marine Lombard, a former Louisiana Alcohol and Tobacco Control commissioner, emerged victorious for Orleans magistrate judge over Steve Singer, a white candidate who ran as a darling of progressives in a campaign to ban money bail. Kimya Holmes, defeated Graham Bosworth, in a white/Black faceoff whose margin almost exactly reflects the city’s racial balance, 61 percent to 39 percent. Angel Harris won by about the same percentage in her challenge to Caucasian incumbent Franz Zibilich for the Section L seat in criminal court. Nandi Campbell defeated Lon Burns, a Black former prosecutor, by a 3-1 margin for the Section G seat.

In fact, the success of Black female candidates came, as commentator Mike Bayham explained to The Louisiana Weekly, thanks to African-American women finally “flexing their muscles” as the largest single voting constituency within Orleans Parish. Only Caucasian female incumbent judges like Robin Giarrusso and Laurie White would survive their challenges, while their male counterparts cleared out their chambers. Diane Alexander and Marie Williams would be the only female Black judicial aspirants to fall on November 3, the former to fellow African-American Democrat Omar Mason in the Civil District Court Division E race and the latter narrowly failing to make the runoff in the Juvenile Court, Section A contest – bucking the pro-female wave. But Rhonda Goode-Douglas did beat Derwyn Bunton, 64 percent to 36 percent, for the Criminal District Court, Section E seat.

African-American women also look to be quite successful in the upcoming runoffs. Lori Jupiter did lead a crowded field with 47 percent of the vote in her Civil District Court, Division I contest – a near victory that makes her the overwhelming favorite on December 5. Stephanie Bridges achieved the first place position in the Criminal District Court, Section K contest going into the runoff. Niki Roberts will faceoff against Ranold Darensburg for the Juvenile Court, Section F contest, having fought him to a near-tie in the primary. And in the District Attorney‘s race, Kiva Landrum led the field with 35 percent of the vote, and is considered the favorite over embattled Councilman Jason Williams in the runoff. In the contests for a Orleans Parish School Board, Patrice Sentino stood as the only African-American woman to be defeated (by veteran Black educator John Brown). In each of the other OPSB contests, though, female minority candidates either won or made the runoff.

This trend extended on to the West Bank of Jefferson Parish where Sharlayne Jackson-Prevost defeated State Rep. Joseph Marino and will face Republican Nelson Cantrell in a runoff for the 2nd Parish Court, Division A seat. Considered a non-factor in the race initially, Jackson-Prevost nearly won the judgeship in the primary with 49 percent of the vote. Michelle Peters Holmes easily won reelection to Justice of the Peace, 7th Justice Court, with 57 percent of the vote. (In fact, Jerome Matthews stood as one of the few African-American candidates not to win on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish, yet his 47 percent of the vote against 37-year incumbent Vernon Wilty III for Justice of the Peace, 1st Justice Court, an impressive result in a contest in which no one gave him a chance.)

The State Supreme Court will see a Black female Justice next year. Judges Piper Griffin and Terri Love were set to face off on December 5 in a runoff but Judge Love has since dropped from the race. Perhaps, though, the greatest example of the change impact of high turnout occurred in the St. Bernard Justice of the Peace Ward F contest, and it benefited a Black man. Charles Jackson beat longtime incumbent Michael McNab. Jackson stands as the first African-American to be elected in Chalmette, La., in that seat since Reconstruction, and, in a bipartisan twist, he ran as a Black Republican and defeated a white Democrat.

This article originally published in the November 9, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.