Over the past couple of months, Shreveport Republican Mayor Tom Arceneaux’s margin for reelection error has become quite a bit smaller.
Arceneaux attained office in the majority black, plurality Democrat city almost two years ago largely because he emanated an air of competence after the previous amateurish and detached rule of his predecessor Democrat Adrian Perkins and because he maneuvered his candidacy into a runoff with Democrat former state Sen. Greg Tarver who brought a controversial past and baggage of old political rivalries within the black community to a contest he would lose. With several black Democrats building power bases for 2026 that could challenge Arceneaux successfully, in order to win reelection he would have to govern well with as little drama as possible.
Not unexpectedly, when opportunity arises Democrat councilors oppose Arceneaux. Saddled with a consent decree on water and sewerage that forced higher property taxes in bond sales and higher rates (incrementally increasing over several years), Democrat councilors dragged their feet on the rate hikes and decried it all until (inevitable, given the decree) their approval, using that as a way to cast blame on Arceneaux and deflect it from themselves for the hikes.