Don’t look now, but election season is getting ramped up again.
This May 16 will be the primary for city elections. Not only will Mayor Randy Fandal have to run and win his job again, only eight months after winning the race to fill the partial term, but the chief of police job is now wide open. There will also be races for City Council seats, and several of those will be vacant positions to be filled by new faces.
While Slidell’s city elections have generally not been terribly intense, well, maybe before the mayor’s election last October, the real interest from me is set on the parish elections in the fall of 2027. And trust me. If you are thinking, “well, that is a long way off,” then you don’t know elections the way I do.
Elections for the top jobs in St. Tammany Parish government have proven to be some of the most interesting races there are. I guess it’s because there are some very big positions up for grabs, which has led to many hot election debates.
As for the city elections, I would be shocked if anyone even ran against Fandal after he won last year with a big total, however, as our front page stories showed last week, we have two very qualified candidates already announced for police chief. Tommy Williams and Brian Nicaud both have decades of police experience and from this corner, either one is plenty qualified to run the department, so I expect that to become a pretty heated election.
I’ve already seen a few new faces putting up signs around Slidell for City Council elections, including former local businessman Rene Arcemont apparently wanting to return to the local spotlight, and Tommy Abney, a lifelong Slidellian who has never been in public office, already off-and-running for an At-Large seat.
However, the election that should get the most interest will be for parish president, where Mike Cooper will undoubtedly face stiff competition. I have heard a handful of interesting names so far that might throw their hats in the ring, with none confirming it just yet since the election is still nearly two years away.
Regardless of that time frame, it will take hundreds of thousands of dollars to run an election for parish president and that’s why you can expect to see announcements pretty soon. It takes time to hold campaign fundraisers and line up support. But considering the criticism Cooper has gotten in recent years for allowing the debacle we all have watched with the parish government budget, I know there will be strong opposition trying to stop him from winning a third term.
Another interesting race to watch is for sheriff. Randy Smith has been sheriff for 10 years and has not stated publicly if he will run again. Odds are, he would win handily if he enters the race again since he is a very popular public figure. But he has told me he is not positive if he will run again, although he expects to make a decision before the summer. If he decides to step aside, count on a long list of candidates getting in that election.
While you might think these races are still a bit on the horizon, I’ve been covering politics here for many years and already am hearing a lot of talk about both city and parish races. And what I hear makes me know it’s going to be another adventure following and covering these elections when they get close.
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I’ve written a few stories about the dangers of texting or talking on your phone while you are driving. A new Louisiana law passed by Slidell Rep. Brian Glorioso went into effect on Jan. 1, 2026, that now mandates no handheld phones being used in your car or truck for any reason.
I know we’ve all seen distracted drivers these days, unfortunately more than we would like to, but I’ve got to give you one story to support the new law from Glorioso.
I was driving on I-12 from Covington to Slidell recently when I came up behind an old-looking pickup truck in the left lane. As I slowed down, it was clear the driver was doing about 65, driving me crazy since my pet peeve is those who drive slow in the left lane. And we’ve all seen the signs on the interstate that say, “slower vehicles move to the right.”
I waited a few seconds, then saw I had to go around the truck, and as I got next to it, I saw a woman perhaps 66 or 67 years of age, leaning over her steering wheel with a phone, intently staring at it. As I passed her, I looked in the rearview mirror as she swerved all the way across the white line several times. It was an accident waiting to happen.
We all know how bad distracted driving can be. Please, please, adhere to the new state law. We’ve all seen too many tragic accidents because so many can’t seem to live without being on their phone 24/7.
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
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