BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
S Sharon Weston Broome
Sharon Weston Broome
Mayor-President of Baton Rouge
and East Baton Rouge Parish[fn 1]
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 2, 2017
Preceded by Melvin "Kip" Holden
Louisiana State Senate
President Pro Tempore
In office
January 14, 2008 – January 11, 2016
Preceded by Diana Bajoie
Succeeded by Gerald Long
Member of the Louisiana Senate from the 15th district
In office
January 12, 2004 – January 11, 2016
Preceded by Melvin "Kip" Holden
Succeeded by Regina Barrow
Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
from the 29th district
In office
January 13, 1992 – January 12, 2004
Preceded by Clyde Kimball
Succeeded by Regina Barrow
Personal details
Born October 1956
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Marvin Broome
Residence Baton Rouge
Alma mater University of Wisconsin–La Crosse,
Regent University
Occupation Legislator
Communications
Religion Baptist
Sharon Weston Broome (born October 1956)[1] is the current Mayor-President of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is a member of the Democratic Party. She was the first African-American woman to be in the Louisiana State Senate for District 15, in which she held her position from 2004 to 2016. She was elected Mayor-President of Baton Rouge on December 10, 2016, and was sworn into office on January 2, 2017.[2][3]
Her state senatorial predecessor, Democrat Kip Holden, is the departing Baton Rouge Mayor-President who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 24, 2015. Victory went instead to the Republican Billy Nungesser.[4] From 2008 to 2016, Broome was the President Pro Tempore of the state Senate. In 2011, she was elected to her second full Senate term without opposition.
From 1992 to 2004, Broome was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 29. She was succeeded by her legislative assistant, Regina Barrow. She was elected Speaker Pro Tempore of the House, the first woman to have held that position. Broome is hence the first woman to serve in the number-two leadership position in both legislative chambers.
In 2002, Representative Broome introduced House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 74 which condemned "Darwinism" as justifying racism and Nazism. The bill was amended to remove allusions to Darwin and passed.[5] In 2012, sponsored a bill requiring doctors to let a woman hear the heartbeat of a fetus (if present) before performing an abortion.[6] The bill was signed into law by Governor Bobby Jindal on June 8, 2012.[7]
Before being elected to state office, Broome, a native of Chicago, Illinois, served on the Baton Rouge Metro Council. She holds two degrees in communications and worked as a reporter for WBRZ-TV for five years.[4]
Broome was among the state and local officials who endorsed the unsuccessful reelection in 2014 of Democrat U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu.[8]
Term-limited in the Senate, Broome was the first candidate to declare her intentions to run in 2016 to succeed Kip Holden as Mayor-President for East Baton Rouge Parish.[9] Several Republican candidates also ran; the Republican state Senator Bodi White in turn lost to Broome the runoff election held on December 10, 2016. White received 55,241 votes (48 percent) to Broome's 59,737 (52 percent).[10]
As Mayor-President, Broome in April 2017 appointed Troy Bell as the city-parish chief administrative officer, but he resigned after less than a week in the $144,000 annual post after it was disclosed that the does not hold the master's degree in public administration that he had claimed in his resume. Broome tapped James Llorens of Baton Rouge as the interim CAO. Several human resources professionals claim that the Bell selection could have been avoided had Broome followed a different approach to vetting candidates for appointments.[11]Broome announced thereafter that she will spearhead the search for her next CAO selection to prevent problems like those that surfaced in the Bell case.[12]
Broome was succeeded in the state Senate by Regina Barrow, who had also followed her in the state House of Representatives. Barrow was succeeded in the House by Metro Council member Ronnie Edwards, who died of pancreatic cancer after only forty-four days of service. Both Barrow and Edwards were coincidentally born in Wilkinson County, Mississippi.[13]
Sharon Weston Broome
Mayor-President of Baton Rouge
and East Baton Rouge Parish[fn 1]
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 2, 2017
Preceded by Melvin "Kip" Holden
Louisiana State Senate
President Pro Tempore
In office
January 14, 2008 – January 11, 2016
Preceded by Diana Bajoie
Succeeded by Gerald Long
Member of the Louisiana Senate from the 15th district
In office
January 12, 2004 – January 11, 2016
Preceded by Melvin "Kip" Holden
Succeeded by Regina Barrow
Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
from the 29th district
In office
January 13, 1992 – January 12, 2004
Preceded by Clyde Kimball
Succeeded by Regina Barrow
Personal details
Born October 1956
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Marvin Broome
Residence Baton Rouge
Alma mater University of Wisconsin–La Crosse,
Regent University
Occupation Legislator
Communications
Religion Baptist
Sharon Weston Broome (born October 1956)[1] is the current Mayor-President of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is a member of the Democratic Party. She was the first African-American woman to be in the Louisiana State Senate for District 15, in which she held her position from 2004 to 2016. She was elected Mayor-President of Baton Rouge on December 10, 2016, and was sworn into office on January 2, 2017.[2][3]
Her state senatorial predecessor, Democrat Kip Holden, is the departing Baton Rouge Mayor-President who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 24, 2015. Victory went instead to the Republican Billy Nungesser.[4] From 2008 to 2016, Broome was the President Pro Tempore of the state Senate. In 2011, she was elected to her second full Senate term without opposition.
From 1992 to 2004, Broome was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 29. She was succeeded by her legislative assistant, Regina Barrow. She was elected Speaker Pro Tempore of the House, the first woman to have held that position. Broome is hence the first woman to serve in the number-two leadership position in both legislative chambers.
In 2002, Representative Broome introduced House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 74 which condemned "Darwinism" as justifying racism and Nazism. The bill was amended to remove allusions to Darwin and passed.[5] In 2012, sponsored a bill requiring doctors to let a woman hear the heartbeat of a fetus (if present) before performing an abortion.[6] The bill was signed into law by Governor Bobby Jindal on June 8, 2012.[7]
Before being elected to state office, Broome, a native of Chicago, Illinois, served on the Baton Rouge Metro Council. She holds two degrees in communications and worked as a reporter for WBRZ-TV for five years.[4]
Broome was among the state and local officials who endorsed the unsuccessful reelection in 2014 of Democrat U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu.[8]
Term-limited in the Senate, Broome was the first candidate to declare her intentions to run in 2016 to succeed Kip Holden as Mayor-President for East Baton Rouge Parish.[9] Several Republican candidates also ran; the Republican state Senator Bodi White in turn lost to Broome the runoff election held on December 10, 2016. White received 55,241 votes (48 percent) to Broome's 59,737 (52 percent).[10]
As Mayor-President, Broome in April 2017 appointed Troy Bell as the city-parish chief administrative officer, but he resigned after less than a week in the $144,000 annual post after it was disclosed that the does not hold the master's degree in public administration that he had claimed in his resume. Broome tapped James Llorens of Baton Rouge as the interim CAO. Several human resources professionals claim that the Bell selection could have been avoided had Broome followed a different approach to vetting candidates for appointments.[11]Broome announced thereafter that she will spearhead the search for her next CAO selection to prevent problems like those that surfaced in the Bell case.[12]
Broome was succeeded in the state Senate by Regina Barrow, who had also followed her in the state House of Representatives. Barrow was succeeded in the House by Metro Council member Ronnie Edwards, who died of pancreatic cancer after only forty-four days of service. Both Barrow and Edwards were coincidentally born in Wilkinson County, Mississippi.[13]
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