While presidential politics have dominated national headlines, state and local issues are also part of today’s ballot.
The mayoral election will decide whether Democratic Mayor-President Kip Holden will serve four more years in office, or if the mayor-presidency will go to one of the other three challengers.
Republican candidate Mayor-President Pro Tempore Mike Walker is closest to upsetting the past favorite, but two unaffiliated candidates are also running.
After fellow candidate Gordon Mese called for Walker to bow out of the race at a mayoral debate, Walker said he would never step out of a race he is winning.
Walker’s main idea is the elimination of Baton Rouge crime, and his plan to combat that includes financing a new police academy and making crime-stopping a priority in the budget.
Mese is running on the platform of a closer-knit Baton Rouge. He wants to keep graduates of the local universities in the city.
Mese has a background in urban planning and believes Baton Rouge’s basic infrastructure is the root of the city’s problems.
His solutions include an overhaul of the Unified Development Code that will reform city permits, utilities and street planning, among other basic aspects of Baton Rouge life.
Attorney Steve Myers has run in eight separate elections now, winning one in 1996 for a seat on the Democratic State Central Committee.
Myers said he hates single-issue candidates. He boiled down his fiscal policy, saying paying for public safety and infrastructure are the two main pillars of financing Baton Rouge, and the rest is bonus.
He introduced 40 more issues in his “Myers Message” series, with a three-part video on the economy and one about development in downtown Baton Rouge and Tigerland.
He suggested the Tigerland area is neglected and students have moved on to newer residences, and he wants to turn that around.
“Everything around LSU should be spic-and-span clean, and Tigerland is far from that,” Myers said, citing graduation speakers and other illustrious visitors to the University’s campus.
Voters will also weigh in on the gun law issue politicians have been debating about for the past few months.
The amendment proposes concealed weapons permits are unnecessary, and any further law change would have to be reviewed by a court.
Other amendments up for a vote include setting money aside for Medicaid, tax exemption for non-manufacturing businesses that was previously conserved for manufacturers and property tax exemption for spouses of disabled veterans.
