Sharon Weston Broome

Sharon Weston Broome
Mayor-President of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish
In office January 2, 2017 – January 2, 2025
Preceded by	Kip Holden
Succeeded by	Sid Edwards
President pro tempore of the Louisiana Senate
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, 2005 – January 11, 2016
Preceded by	Kip Holden
Succeeded by	Regina Barrow
Speaker pro tempore of the Louisiana House of Representatives
In office January 2004 – January 12, 2005
Preceded by	Peppi Bruneau
Succeeded by	Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb
Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from the 29th district
In office January 13, 1992 – January 12, 2005
Preceded by	Clyde Kimball
Succeeded by	Regina Barrow
Personal details
Born	(1956-10-01) October 1, 1956 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Marvin Broome
Children	3
Education	University of Wisconsin, La Crosse (BA) Regent University (MA)

Sharon Weston Broome (born October 1, 1956) is a Louisiana politician who served as mayor-president of Baton Rouge, Louisiana between 2017 and 2025. She was elected mayor-president in a runoff election held on December 10, 2016. Broome is the first African-American woman to serve as mayor-president.

Broome previously served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 2005, and in the Louisiana State Senate, representing the 15th district from 2005 to 2016. From 2008 to 2016, Broome was the President Pro Tempore of the state Senate. In 2011, she ran unopposed and was elected to her second full Senate term.

In 2024, Broome was elected as president of the National League of Cities. Shortly afterward, Broome was defeated for a third term, losing to Sid Edwards, a Republican who campaigned on concerns about Baton Rouge's swelling murder rate as well as the incorporation of a new city, St. George, in a previously unincorporated part of the parish during Broome's tenure.

Early life and career

Early life and education

During the first wave of The Great Migration Sharon Weston Broome’s parents were a part of the 6 million African American southerners relocating to northern midwestern cities. On October 1, 1956 Sharon Weston Broome was born in the city of Chicago, Illinois. For grade school, Broome attended Carter Elementary School in Chicago where Mrs. Mamie-Till Mobley, Emmett Till’s mother, was her third grade teacher. Hearing the story of Emmett Till unfold, sparked an interest in civil justice at a very young age for her. Broome then moved to the state of Wisconsin where she then went on to receive her Bachelors of Arts degree for Mass Communications at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. Afterwards she relocated to Virginia Beach, Virginia to receive her master's degree at Regent University for Communications. With having her two degrees in communications she first pursued news reporting and worked for WBRZ-TV for five years, reporting on local topics.

East Baton Rouge Metro Council

Before being elected to state office, Broome served on the Baton Rouge Metro Council. She was elected to the Metro Council in 1988.

Louisiana House of Representatives

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. From 1996 to 2003, she was Chairman of Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs Committee. Broome was elected Speaker Pro Tempore of the House, the first woman to have held that position.

In 2002, 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.

Louisiana State Senate

From 2005 to 2016, Broome represented District 15 in the Louisiana State Senate. While serving in the state senate, she also served as President Pro Tempore. Broome is hence the first woman to serve in the number-two leadership position in both legislative chambers.

In 2012, she sponsored a bill requiring doctors to let a woman hear the heartbeat of a fetus (if present) before performing an abortion. The bill was signed into law by Republican Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal on June 8, 2012.

Broome was among the state and local officials who endorsed the unsuccessful reelection in 2014 of Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu.

Mayor of Baton Rouge

2016 election

Main article: 2016 Baton Rouge mayoral election

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. Broome's 2016 campaign focused on a variety of issues. One of her main focuses was maintaining a united parish where everyone is represented, including low-income residents and college students. Additionally, she campaigned on providing more accessible healthcare throughout the entire parish.

On November 8, 2016, Broome won 32% of votes in the first round of the nonpartisan election for mayor-president, and continued to the runoff election. Following the primary election, Broome was endorsed by Democrat Denise Marcelle. Marcelle was also a candidate in the 2016 mayor-president race but had been eliminated in the primary election.

Several Republican candidates also ran; the Republican state Senator Bodi White in turn lost to Broome in the runoff election held on December 10, 2016. White received 55,241 votes (48 percent) to Broome's 59,737 (52 percent).

Broome was sworn into office on January 2, 2017.

First term

Budget

As mayor-president of Baton Rouge, Broome is responsible for proposing the annual budget to the East Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council.

During her first term, several of Broome’s proposed budgets included allocated funds for law enforcement and public safety improvements. Her proposed budget for 2018 provided funds to increase salaries for the police department and to buy new vehicles for the police and fire department. Broome’s 2019 budget, which was approved unanimously by the Metro Council, included funds to purchase new equipment for law enforcement. Her proposed budget for 2021 also allocated funds to increase the pay rate for police officers, and hire additional EMS personnel.

Appointments

Broome is also responsible for appointing the heads of city departments.

During her first term, Broome appointed Murphy Paul as the Baton Rouge Police Chief in 2018. This appointment occurred several months after the retirement of former police chief, Carl Dabadie, who Broome had promised to replace during her campaign.

As Mayor-President, Broome in April 2017 appointed Troy Bell as the city-parish Chief administrative officer (CAO), but he resigned after less than a week in the $144,000 annual post after it was disclosed that he 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. 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.

Policies and Issues

BRAVE Contracts

During Broome's first term, there were concerns that the Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination Program (BRAVE) contracts issued by her office were not meeting federal funding requirements. In July 2017, Buddy Amoroso, a member of the Metro Council, requested that the Louisiana Legislative Auditor and the Office of the Inspector General investigate if the approved contracts adhered to federal regulations. In August 2017, Broome suspended all BRAVE contracts issued from mid-June to mid-July.

In August 2017, Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore announced that he was seeking a list of confidential informant names that were erroneously released by Mayor-President Broom's office.

Infrastructure

In August 2018, Broome proposed a half-cent sales tax, rather than a property tax, to fund the proposed MoveBR roads program under consideration by the Metro Council. If approved by the council, the measure would then be placed on the December 8 ballot. Broome said that the sales tax is preferred so as not to place the entire burden on property owners. Many residents, she said, encouraged her to pursue the sales tax as "more equitable" than a property tax though sales taxes are regressive in nature. Voters approved the half-cent sales tax on December 8, 2018, in what is viewed as a big victory for the mayor-president that demonstrates her being able to garner bipartisan support from the business community.

Following the approved tax proposal, the MoveBR program officially began in September 2019. The goal of this program was to reduce congestion and improve street conditions for pedestrians. The MoveBR program consisted of over 70 projects, including the construction of new roads.

Broome also prioritized the parish's stormwater master plan, following the deadly 2016 flooding that occurred in Baton Rouge. In 2019, Broome announced that the parish had received $15 million to cover the costs of the stormwater master plan. These funds came from FEMA and the Louisiana Office of Community Development.

St. George Incorporation

In October 2019, residents living in the new proposed city limits voted on a referendum to incorporate St. George as a city. Prior to this election, St. George was an unincorporated section of the East Baton Rouge parish. Broome was against the incorporation, as she wanted the parish to stay united. Despite Broome’s opposition, residents voted in favor of incorporating St. George.

Following the election, Broome filed a lawsuit to prevent the incorporation from happening. Originally, a lower court had ruled in favor of Broome. However, this ruling was overturned by the Louisiana Supreme Court in April 2024, which allowed St. George to legally incorporate.

2020 election

Main article: 2020 Baton Rouge mayoral election

The 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana mayoral election took place on November 3, 2020, with a runoff on December 5, 2020, to elect the next Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish.

No candidate secured a majority in the initial election, resulting in a runoff election between the top two candidates: incumbent Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, of the Democratic party, and former State Representative State Carter of the Republican party.

The election took place amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, significantly affecting campaign strategies. Restrictions on public gatherings resulted in smaller events and reduced public engagement. for the candidates. During her campaign, Mayor-President Broome lacked public support, which led to the race drawing seven total candidates. This was the most challengers a mayoral incumbent in East Baton Rouge Parish had faced in almost thirty years.

Incumbent Mayor Sharon Weston Broome was declared to be the mayor of Baton Rouge, Louisiana following the December 5th runoff. She secured 57% of the final vote, with her opponent, former State Representative Steve Carter receiving 43%. Broome was the first female to be re-elected to this position.

Second term

Infrastructure and Equity

Broome oversaw progress in the MOVEBR program, the city's largest infrastructure initiative.

Broome championed a 2021 proposal for Housing for Heroes, a "36-unit affordable housing development for first responders" in the Scotlandville area of Baton Rouge. As of 2023, funding for the project had not been transferred from the federal government.

National League of Cities

Broome was elected to be the new president of The National League of Cities (NLC) in November 2024.

Appointments

In December 2021, Broome appointed Michael Kimble as chief of the Baton Rouge Fire Department.

Following the retirement of former police chief Murphy Paul, Broome appointed Thomas Morse to the position in December 2023.

2024 election

Broome sought re-election to a third consecutive term. Before the 2024 Baton Rouge mayoral election was held on November 5, Broome's top opponents were Democratic challenger Ted James and Republican Sid Edwards. In the first round, Broome received 31.19% of votes, Edwards received 34.38%, and James received 28.37%. After the first round of voting, James was eliminated and Broome faced Edwards in the runoff on December 7. Broome ran as a Democrat with a focus on issues like education, the economy, and housing. Broome received endorsements from Congressman Troy Carter, former opponent Ted James, and former Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.

On December 7, Broome lost to Sid Edwards in the runoff election.

Personal life

She is married to Marvin Alonzo Broome, with whom she has three children along with three grandchildren. When she married Broome, she became stepmother to his three children who had lost their biological mother to cancer. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She enjoys playing the piano, drinking sparkling cider, and eating popcorn and gummy bears.

External links

• Official website