Now that election season is over and Baton Rouge has chosen a new mayor and several new Metro Council members, a battle is heating up inside City Hall for the influential position of mayor pro tem.
Three council members are vying for the seat: Chandler Loupe, who has held the position since 2012, Donna Collins-Lewis and Tara Wicker.
Already, they and their supporters are calling around trying to drum up support in what will be the first battle of the new Metro Council.
Loupe had decided earlier this year against seeking the post for a second term because of the extra time commitment it requires, he says. Wicker, by contrast, had been lobbying for it since last spring and says she had even secured Loupe’s support, a claim he does not deny.
But Loupe says he changed his mind in recent weeks after talking to some of his colleagues on the council, who urged him to again seek the position. He says he believes it’s because of the involvement of north Baton Rouge activist and The Rouge Collection publisher Gary Chambers, who is pushing for Collins-Lewis to get the position.
“I think that is what prompted people to ask me to reconsider—that Gary was lobbying for a certain mayor pro tem candidate,” Loupe says.
Chambers has been a frequent critic of the Metro Council and has been called out at council meetings for disruptive behavior. Though he frequently disagrees with Collins-Lewis on issues, Chambers says he’s lobbying on her behalf because he believes she will do the best job running council meetings in an equitable manner.
“I believe Donna is a fair person whether you’re black, white, Asian, Latino and that people will be treated with respect if she administers the meetings,” he says. “Chandler Loupe is an extremely disrespectful person.”
Chambers says he would not consider supporting Wicker for the position. For her part, Wicker says she is disappointed that Loupe changed his mind and that she now faces a three-way run for a position she thought she had staked out months ago.
“I was really looking forward to it and was hopeful that the people who’d given me their word would support me,” Wicker says. “But we’ll see what happens.”
Collins-Lewis declines to comment except to say she is seeking the position and will let her colleagues decide.
If history is any indication, the composition of the new Metro Council suggests Loupe will ultimately prevail in the contest. Council members typically vote along racial and party lines, and the new council includes seven white Republicans and five black Democrats.
The mayor pro tem presides over Metro Council meetings and can carry out the duties of mayor if needed. The council will choose its next mayor pro tem after council members are sworn in on Jan. 2.
—Stephanie Riegel
