State Sen. John Alario is seen as a lock to return as Senate president, while at least seven have thrown their hats in the ring for president pro-tem.
The Monroe News-Star reports that 30 senators convened Monday at City Club in Lafayette’s River Ranch for a meeting regarding the leadership positions. The meeting was organized by state Sen. Eric LaFleur, a Ville Platte Democrat.
LaFleur pushed through a bill that calls for election of the president and president pro-tem by secret ballot and says that bill has led to open campaigning. It’s a strange turn of events from the past, when the governor would choose the leaders of the Legislature.
“It’s new territory,” says Alario, a Republican from Westwego. “It remains to be seen how much influence the governor will have, but this independence of the Senate has been for the betterment in 49 other states, so I don’t know why it wouldn’t be better for Louisiana.”
Alario says he feels good about his chances at keeping his presidency because no one has publicly said they will run against him.
“I like that; those are good odds,” Alario tells the newspaper.
The president pro-tem seat is being vacated by Sen. Sharon Weston Broome, who is term-limited in the Senate and could not run again. Seven who are running for president pro-tem, LeFleur says, are state Democratic Party Chair Sen. Karen Carter Peterson of New Orleans; Sen. Gerald Long, R-Winnfield; Sen. Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb, D-Baton Rouge; Sen. JP Morrell, D-New Orleans; Sen. Rick Ward, R-Port Allen; Sen. Jonathan Perry, R-Kaplan; and Sen. John Smith, R-Leesville.
Sen. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, who was absent from Monday’s gathering in Lafayette, says he feels Alario will return as Senate president “without any doubt in my mind.”
