Mayor: Bid is about unity

• By SCOTT DYER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Sep 22, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Mayor-President Kip Holden says his re-election bid is all about bringing people together, and claims his three opponents are trying to divide voters based on race and party in the upcoming Oct. 4 primary.

A black Democrat, Holden is quick to point out that most of his support on the Metro Council over the past three-and-a-half years has come from white Republicans who make up a majority.

“You’ve got a council that’s Republican-dominated, but if it had not been for them supporting all these projects that I pushed, I would not have the success that I’ve had,” Holden said.

Holden’s most vocal critic on the Metro Council has been Wayne Carter, a white Democrat-turned-Republican who now is running against him.

The field of mayoral challengers for the Oct. 4 primary also includes white Republican Dan Kyle, a former state legislative auditor; and former School Board member Ron Johnson, a black Democrat.

Holden said the challengers are doing their best to “inject a poison pill” into the campaign. The mayor said Carter and Kyle are working to strip his white and Republican support, while Johnson is working to attract black Democrats.

But Holden said he is confident that because of his efforts to reach across racial and party lines, the race is not going to boil down to black voters versus white voters, or Democrats versus Republicans.

“I have people who walk up to me on a regular basis and say, “I had my doubts about you last time, and I wasn’t sure what kind of mayor you were going to turn out to be. I didn’t even vote for you last time, but this time, you have my vote and my family’s vote,” Holden said.

Holden acknowledged that some of his strongest opposition on the council has come from fellow black Democrats.

“I told the four black council members when I first took office, I am not going to let them divide this city and parish,” Holden said.

Three of four black Democrats — Ulysses “Bones” Addison, Byron Sharper and Lorri Burgess — have opposed almost everything Holden has proposed. The other black Democrat, Charles Kelly, has supported Holden on most issues.

He joined with the white Republicans to pass Holden’s Green Light Plan to improve roads and supported Holden’s hiring of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber to serve as the city-parish economic development department.

“Now it’s not a party or race issue, it’s a people’s issue about how we can move Baton Rouge forward, and how we can do it collectively,” Holden said.