Over 10,000 fewer voters turn out than 2019 election
By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Four years ago Mike Cooper entered the election for St. Tammany parish president, acknowledging the big challenge for the winner since the parish coffers were going broke.
While that problem is still not fixed four years later, parish voters apparently believe Cooper is the man to find the solution to that huge problem as they re-elected him last Saturday night in the matchup against Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer.
Cooper won an expected close race with 33,594 votes for 51 percent, as Cromer finished with 31,731 votes for 49 percent.
Voter turnout was incredibly low for the parish elections that come every four years as only 34.9 percent of registered voters came out to the polls. Four years ago, with the parish population smaller than it is today, 45.6 percent of registered voters came out.
That amounted to 10,494 fewer voters who decided to make their voice heard after 75,819 voters came out in 2019, compared to only 65,325 this year.
Cooper thanked the voters for what he said was an affirmation of the work he has done.
“I am so thankful for the citizens of St. Tammany Parish, who affirmed their belief in me to continue to lead our community to new heights,” said Cooper. “Over the past four years, I kept my promises to improve infrastructure, slow down development and require smarter building practices, maintain our world-class economy and improve our beloved quality of life.
“I will continue our efforts into my next term, as well as lead the charge to fix our broken tax structure. St. Tammany Parish is the best place to live, work and grow in Louisiana, and we will continue to do everything necessary to preserve and improve that,” he added.
Cromer said the low voter turnout certainly was a concern to him, and he wondered if the fact the citizens of Slidell would lose their popular mayor had something to do with his defeat.
“I had a lot of people during the campaign say they didn’t want to lose me being the mayor of Slidell,” he said. “It’s hard not to believe that wasn’t a factor when the final totals were so close.
“But more than anything, I think that is reflected in such a low voter turnout. To see 10,000 fewer voters come out this time compared to four years ago—that’s a lot,” he added.
Cromer lost by 1,863 votes.
Cromer did acknowledge during his public concession speech at the Olde Towne street party that he knew he was a winner either way the election went.
“I still get to wake up tomorrow and be the mayor of Slidell, a job I love,” he told the crowd of supporters. “And considering the challenges facing the parish right now, my job will certainly be much easier than being parish president, even though I was more than willing to step in to try and get things fixed—something we desperately need to get done.”
The parish financial situation was the top issue discussed during the campaign as the past four years have seen much of the parish savings depleted to keep services at their current levels.
Cooper has a pending lawsuit from the district attorney for a difference in how much money the parish is giving the D.A. to fund the Justice Center operations—a state mandated expense.
The parish also has an ongoing financial dispute with the Coroner’s Office over land and assets there, something that led to a previous lawsuit. Money has gotten so tight that the parish filed a lawsuit asking a judge to decide what minimum amounts of funding the parish can give to different government agencies for state mandated or operational expenses.
Cooper has stated in the past year that the problem is many dedicated millages and taxes in St. Tammany, something that will take legislative action to rectify, if the voters agree. However, Cromer pressed him during the campaign about why he hasn’t done that in the past four years since the budget crisis was there all along.
Cooper now agrees that an effort to get a vote to the public to re-dedicate some of those millages is the answer since he stated, “we do not have a money problem in St. Tammany.”
Cooper recently presented a 2024 budget to the parish for $161 million.
Cromer was asked if he might run again in four years and while expectedly not ready to answer yet, said that the morning after the election he decided he should keep all his campaign signs rather than throw them away.
Cromer made a call to Cooper on Saturday night conceding the election and said, “I will support you in whatever way I can to help St. Tammany Parish.”