By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – There will be plenty of new faces to represent eastern St. Tammany Parish in the Louisiana Legislature after Saturday’s election.
Four of the five area seats—one for senator and four in the House of Representatives—will have new officials taking office after lots of jockeying by incumbents who are seeking new positions.
Leading the lineup of changes will be the election on Saturday for the District #1 Senate seat, where incumbent Sharon Hewitt decided to not seek a second term in lieu of a decision to run for governor.
Two current representatives to the Louisiana House decided to leave their seats and run for the District #1 seat, with Bob Owen and Ray Garofalo facing off in a two-man race that has been intense for the past months leading up to the election.
Owen, current House representative from District 76, has campaigned with a motto of “governing with intelligence and integrity” and said his strength is building coalitions. He believes Louisiana needs a Constitutional Convention to revamp the state in a major way, as well as the need for major reform in the insurance industry.
“I am tired of the divisiveness in the Republican Party. We should be able to unite behind a common goal since it is keeping us from realizing our potential,” he said.
Owen, a lifelong Slidell resident, is also a businessman with a background in TV, marketing and communications.
Garofalo, who has 12 years in the Legislature as well as working as an attorney for 30 years, said he will focus on crime and education, if elected.
“My time as chairman of the House Education Committee taught me a lot, and if we are to attract business, we must provide the work force that is needed,” he said.
Both candidates also pointed to the need for insurance reform, considering the skyrocketing rates in Louisiana where many companies have quit writing policies and left the state.
The only incumbent eastern St. Tammany state rep seeking another four-year term is in District 90 where Mary DuBuisson is being challenged by Slidell attorney Brian Glorioso, and Heidi Alejandro-Smith.
DuBuisson found herself in the middle of controversy the past few years when she supported a casino that proposed a huge facility in Slidell, leading the way in the Legislature with a bill that would bring the matter to a vote in St. Tammany—something that ended in great defeat for the casino.
That was followed by the library book controversy that erupted last year. DuBuisson was on the House Committee considering a bill filed by Rep. Paul Hollis that would have given the Parish Council more authority to force the Library Board to quit allowing sexually explicit materials to remain available to minors.
However, the bill never got out of committee and DuBuisson was criticized for not doing more to push it through. She did support a Senate bill later in the session that added restrictions for books that would need parental consent, and even though the Hollis bill failed, she says she supports the restricted section.
“Having served the people of District 90 for the last five years, I have the experience and relationships to be effective in the House,” she said.
However, Glorioso is running on a campaign that already proposes specific plans for change to help St. Tammany residents. He said he plans to re-introduce the Hollis bill, should he be elected, to get more muscle behind the Parish Council, which to date has not done anything to end the controversy.
He also said he has a plan ready for the Legislature to pool the risk of insurance claims among many Gulf Coast states, as well as fighting the new FEMA guidelines that have resulted in higher flood insurance rates.
Glorioso also has a plan for a Constitutional Convention to change the structure of Louisiana government to make us more competitive with other states.
“My first priority will be to address this insurance crisis,” he promised, noting his experience as a 20-year attorney after finishing in the top of his class at Loyola. He has since built two successful law and title businesses.
Smith never responded to a request from the Slidell Independent to submit information on her platform.
Another open seat is in the District 74 House position where newcomers Stephanie Berault and Shawn Jones are both running.
Berault, who was already endorsed by U.S. Sen. Steve Scalise, believes her experience in health care and finance make her the right choice.
“I have spent my life developing relationships across our parish, region and the state. I work successfully with people of different backgrounds and that will help me get things done for District 74 residents,” she said.
Her priorities will be crime and the insurance crisis, she added, while also supporting a Constitutional Convention to change the tax structure in Louisiana.
Jones said his top priorities would be education reform and teacher pay raises, pointing to the fact Louisiana ranks 46th in the nation in teacher pay.
“I would also like to create a better job market to keep some of our young bright minds in the state,” he added.
Jones’ background includes time as a union leader in the telecommunications industry where he worked for 23 years.
In district 104, pastor John Raymond is taking on Jay Galle, a former TV weatherman.
Raymond highlighted the need to reduce what he called “the exorbitant insurance rates that are destroying our state by implementing tort reform and maximizing relationships with other southern states to combine the business and spread out the risk.”
He also wants to phase out the state income tax through major Louisiana reform that would come from a Constitutional Convention.
Galle did not respond to a request from The Slidell Independent to answer questions on key issues.