Election season not over yet

Voters in East Baton Rouge Parish were served up more than two dozen electoral questions Saturday, and the results are in. The political season, however, is far from over. On Nov. 19, parish voters will face one more constitutional amendment, two high-profile BESE races, a pair of state House runoffs and an election for coroner. On top of the ballot, the sole constitutional amendment proposed will ask voters whether they want to prohibit the levying of new taxes or fees upon the sale or transfer of immovable property. Already moving behind the scenes is Louisiana Realtors, a statewide trade association. The group plans on supporting the amendment and launching a campaign via staytaxfree.com. The proposed November amendment would essentially prevent any parish, municipality or other political subdivision of the state from imposing any new tax on the sale or transfer of real property. Brad Lambert, a spokesman for the group, calls it a “positive development for residential and commercial consumers of real estate and good for the overall real estate market and economy,” Elsewhere on the ballot, in BESE District 6, Republican incumbent Chas Roemer of Baton Rouge is hoping to stave off Ascension Parish Superintendent Donald Songy, a Democrat. A group of businessmen from around the state are backing Roemer as a “progressive” candidate, and his ability to win could determine whether Gov. Bobby Jindal has enough votes on the BESE board to hire the state superintendent he wants. While the House races still raging in Districts 61 and 101 are guaranteed to produce Democratic lawmakers, the contest in District 62 is somewhat unique. For starters, the two candidates share the same first name—”Ken” Dawson and “Kenny” Havard—and the same hometown of St. Francisville. It’s also the only legislative race locally with a two-party setup. Dawson is a Democrat and Havard is a Republican. Expect to hear a lot more about the race, along with everything else on the November ballot, in the coming weeks. —Jeremy Alford