Some 25,000 households in the proposed city of St. George should receive the inaugural edition of The St. George Leader, when their mail is delivered later today.
Publisher Woody Jenkins launched the paper Sept. 30, in advance of the Oct.12 election, delivering copies to some 70 stores throughout the footprint of the proposed city. If the incorporation measure passes, he will likely add the paper to his existing family of community newspapers, which include The Central City News, Capital City News and Istrouma Journal.
“We did this when Central was being considered,” Jenkins says. “We put out one issue right before the vote and then waited to see if people liked it and if it was something of interest to them. So, if St. George passes, we’ll see what the response is.”
The St. George Leader is the latest of countless mailers, both for and against the incorporation, that in recent days have been crowding mailboxes of the nearly 55,000 voters in the proposed city.
In its first edition, Jenkins explains the need for The St. George Leader, arguing that the mainstream media is biased against St. George.
“The southeast area of the parish has been without a newspaper since the closure of the Southeast News. Now, with the strong possibility that voters will create a new city, it is imperative that St. George have its own independent news source,” Jenkins writes. “The hostility of The Advocate to St. George makes it impossible for them to fill that role because people in St. George simply don’t trust them.”
Jenkins says what many Republican voters in St. George perceive to be media bias against President Trump—particularly in light of recent impeachment proceedings against him—have helped fuel record-high early voter turnout and will also help the St. George effort.
“Republican voters, conservative voters, are very angry right now,” he says. “They feel they have no outlet so they are going to the polls.”
During the first five days of early voting, more than 22,000 registered voters in East Baton Rouge Parish had cast a ballot.
As the campaign heats up, Mayor Sharon Weston Broome is planning another show of unity against the proposed incorporation. An announcement is scheduled for 10:45 at Highland Road Community Park, exactly one week after two dozen business leaders gathered to speak out against St. George.
