Keep an eye on the race for district attorney

There will be a lot of elections on the ballot Oct. 24. One of particular interest locally is the race for Caddo District Attorney. It has, so far, been mysterious and befuddling with new developments occurring on a frequent basis.

Caddo District Attorney is an important and powerful position in the parish. It is officially a special election created by the unexpected death of District Attorney Charles Rex Scott in April. Scott was elected to a second six-year term last fall, so the winner of the election will fill out the remainder of Scott’s term, which runs through 2020.

Things started out innocently enough. But Caddo has not seen such an interesting race for District Attorney in decades. Here’s what happened. First Assistant DA Dale Cox assumed the position of Interim District Attorney and announced he would be a candidate. Other candidates entered the race as well. They are assistant DA Dhu Thompson and attorneys Lee Harville, Mark Rogers and Casey Simpson. Rumors were rampant that 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal Judge James E. Stewart Sr. was also going to enter the fray.

Then all hell broke loose. The New Yorker magazine and the New York Times focused in on Cox and wrote uncomplimentary articles about him after he told The Shreveport Times in an interview, “We need to kill more people ... I think the death penalty should be used more often.” The fallout spelled the death knell for Cox’s candidacy, and he decided to withdraw from the race.

The spotlight then turned to Stewart with politicos speculating about whether he would run. As a sitting judge, he is prohibited from participating in any campaign activities until he steps down from the bench. His delay in doing so created a flurry of suspicions and accusations when certain developments began to occur.

First, there was a full-page ad in The Forum which said, “Run, James, Run. James Stewart for District Attorney.” The ad was not signed by any person or organization. Then a billboard appeared on Youree Drive with the same message. It was later determined that attorney Ross Owen paid for the ads. To add to the confusion, a website suddenly appeared, judgestewart.com, which touts Stewart accomplishments as a judge and his contributions to the community. Unusual, sources say, for a sitting judge to have a website. As a result, two complaints were filed anonymously with the Judiciary Committee of Louisiana, which oversees conduct of judges, relative to these two developments.

That’s not all. Recently, a group of attorneys held a press conference, which they said was to urge Stewart to get into the race for DA. And former DA Paul Carmouche sent out a letter to undisclosed recipients saying Stewart was the right man for the job. Through it all, Stewart denied any knowledge of the aforementioned activities and basically remained mum about it all.

Then an informed source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, alleged that Stewart was delaying his stepping down from the bench for a particular reason.

The source said Stewart was waiting until it would be too late to schedule a special election this fall for his judicial seat. If that was the case, the special election would likely be held next spring, and if Stewart lost the DA’s race, he could run to regain his seat on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal. While there is no way to verify the rumor, it has certainly been a topic of discussion in political circles.

At the time of press, I am told Stewart has submitted his retirement papers and will announce his candidacy soon. He may have by the time you read this. He will be the first African-American in the field of candidates. Thompson, Harville, Rogers and Simpson are white.

But the ongoing soap opera that is the DA’s race may not be over just yet. Rumors are flying everywhere. There is talk of perhaps additional candidates entering the race. Another rumor suggests that influential persons are trying to get current candidates to vacate the race in an effort to make the path clearer for Stewart. Whether they are successful remains to be seen.

If Stewart can pull it off and get elected, he would be the first black elected district attorney in Caddo Parish history. The big question everyone is asking: Can a black be elected DA at this point in time? Certainly, he would need solid black support and some white crossover vote. Stewart supporters contend that he will not have a problem attracting a significant number of white voters.

According to the latest voter registration figures, white voters outnumber black voters in Caddo Parish by 5,975. There are 163,289 registered voters in the parish. Of that total, 81,405 (50 percent) are white, 75,430 (46 percent) are black, and 6,454 (4 percent) are other races. By party affiliation, 80,642 (49 percent) are Democrats, 43,824 (27 percent) are Republicans, and 38,823 (24 percent) are Other Party/No Party.

So, voters, keep an eye on this race. It promises to be one of the most interesting and likely contentious and racially charged of the election season.

Lou Gehrig Burnett, an award-winning journalist, has been involved with politics for 44 years and was a congressional aide in Washington, D.C., for 27 years. He also served as executive assistant to former Shreveport Mayor Bo Williams. Burnett is the publisher of the weekly “FaxNet Update” and can be reached at 861-0552 or louburnett@comcast.net.