Inside Report for April 29, 2008

• By SCOTT DYER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Apr 29, 2008 - Page: 7B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Some local Republican leaders would love to replace Mayor-President Kip Holden with one of their own this fall.

But they are having difficulty finding a candidate to challenge Holden, a black Democrat whose administration has had a distinctively Republican flavor.

Some Republicans were pushing former state Rep. Mike Futrell, R-Baton Rouge, as a possible candidate until Futrell went to work for Holden earlier this year as an assistant chief administrative officer.

“I think you can safely scratch Futrell’s name off the list,” said Jerry Arbour, chairman of the East Baton Rouge Republican Committee. “The only name I’ve really heard as a possible challenger at this point is (Metro Councilman) Wayne Carter,” Arbour added.

But Carter, who switched from Democrat to Republican last year, insists that he isn’t interested in challenging Holden or even seeking re-election to the council. After an unsuccessful bid for state agriculture commissioner last fall, Carter said that if he runs for anything in the future, it won’t be on the city-parish level.

Republicans aren’t the only ones looking to unseat Holden.

Some black leaders, including three of the four black Metro Council members, have criticized Holden for raising residential garbage fees as well as for a number of other issues.

Ironically, Holden has come to rely mostly on Republican council members to get the budget and key programs approved over the past three years. Holden said he pushed to raise garbage fees to reform an unfair system that forced unincorporated residents to pay property taxes in additional to their trash bills to support garbage collection.

While Republican opposition has been slow to materialize for Holden, one of the most-powerful black politicians in Baton Rouge is eyeing a possible bid for mayor.

Former U.S. Rep. and state Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, is currently between political gigs and would like nothing more than to unseat his old rival Holden.

Fields has a fine-tuned political machine that could cause Holden some heartburn if a strong Republican gets into the mayor’s race.

With Fields forcing a split in black votes and a strong Republican candidate pitching to white conservatives, Holden could find himself in a tight race for a runoff spot.

Holden’s campaign manager, Alfred Williams, said he’s heard talk on the street that Fields is going to run for mayor, but doesn’t believe it will actually happen.