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.[1][2] Broome is the first African-American woman to serve as mayor-president.[3]
In 2024,Broome was elected as president of the National League of Cities.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9][10] 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.[10] Hearing the story of Emmett Till unfold,sparked an interest in civil justice at a very young age for her.[11] 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.[12] With having her two degrees in communications she first pursued news reporting and worked for WBRZ-TV for five years,reporting on local topics. [13]
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. [14]
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,[15] 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.[16]
Louisiana State Senate
From 2005 to 2016,Broome represented District 15 in the Louisiana State Senate.[5] 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.[17]
In 2012,she sponsored a bill requiring doctors to let a woman hear the heartbeat of a fetus (if present) before performing an abortion.[18] The bill was signed into law by Republican Louisiana GovernorBobby Jindal on June 8,2012.[19]
Broome was among the state and local officials who endorsed the unsuccessful reelection in 2014 of Democratic U.S. SenatorMary Landrieu. [20]
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.[21] 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.[22] Additionally, she campaigned on providing more accessible healthcare throughout the entire parish.[23]
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.[24] 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.[25]
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).[26]
Broome was sworn into office on January 2, 2017.[27]
First term
Budget
As mayor-president of Baton Rouge, Broome is responsible for proposing the annual budget to the East Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council.[28]
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.[29] Broome’s 2019 budget, which was approved unanimously by the Metro Council, included funds to purchase new equipment for law enforcement.[30] Her proposed budget for 2021 also allocated funds to increase the pay rate for police officers, and hire additional EMS personnel.[31]
Appointments
Broome is also responsible for appointing the heads of city departments.[28]
During her first term, Broome appointed Murphy Paul as the Baton Rouge Police Chief in 2018.[32] This appointment occurred several months after the retirement of former police chief, Carl Dabadie, who Broome had promised to replace during her campaign.[33]
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.[34] 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.[35]
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.[36] In August 2017, Broome suspended all BRAVE contracts issued from mid-June to mid-July.[37]
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.[38]
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.[39] 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.[40]
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.[41]
Broome also prioritized the parish's stormwater master plan, following the deadly 2016 flooding that occurred in Baton Rouge.[42] 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.[43]
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.[44] Prior to this election, St. George was an unincorporated section of the East Baton Rouge parish.[45] 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.[44]
Following the election, Broome filed a lawsuit to prevent the incorporation from happening.[46] 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.[47]
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%.[48][49] Broome was the first female to be re-elected to this position.
Second Term
During her second term as Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish, starting in 2021, Sharon Weston Broome faced significant controversies, including evidence of her prior knowledge of abuses at the "Brave Cave" torture facility, claims of overstating her role in projects like MoveBR—originally launched by a predecessor—and scrutiny over the redirection of ARPA gap funding for Housing for Heroes amid allegations of mismanagement and potential corruption.
Housing for Heroes GAP Funding and Federal Investigation
Scotlandville, a historic neighborhood in north Baton Rouge facing systemic disinvestment, was the focus of a revitalization proposal by Queen Muhammad Ali and Hakeem Khaaliq through their company, Queen Muhammad Ali, LLC.[50] On November 2, 2021, the East Baton Rouge Metro Council unanimously approved $6 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) gap funding for Housing for Heroes, LLC (HFH), a for-profit company owned by Queen Muhammad Ali, LLC, after Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome personally presented their proposal to the council.[50][51][52][53]
Significant delays followed, with no progress reported by early 2023.[50][51] Queen Muhammad Ali stated in 2023 that HFH had not received the funds despite public assumptions.[51] The city-parish cited compliance with federal guidelines as the delay’s cause.[51] On December 6, 2022, HFH’s attorney, Kevin J. Gillie, sent a legal opinion letter to Broome, asserting that HFH, a small business impacted by COVID-19 revenue losses, qualified as an ARPA beneficiary, exempting it from competitive bidding, and that the city-parish’s insistence on transferring the $6 million to the HUD HOME program—rejected by HFH—would violate the U.S. Constitution’s Appropriations Clause.[54] On July 27, 2023, Broome announced an agreement with KMT Holdings and Development for a renamed "Scotlandville Housing Development," stating the $6 million ARPA funds, originally approved for HFH, were allocated to KMT Holdings as the subrecipient after negotiations.[55] On August 28, 2023, at the Press Club of Baton Rouge, Broome confirmed the funds supported the renamed project, referring to an entity as "they" benefiting from the investment.[56] City-parish records from 2023 show $961,972 of the ARPA funds paid to KMT Holdings, owned by Bradly Brown.[57]
In May 2024, a federal grand jury subpoenaed the city-parish for project-related records, investigating potential corruption.[58] Brown had ties to Broome and Metro Councilmember Cleve Dunn Jr., a supporter of the original proposal, with text messages reportedly revealing financial connections, raising conflict-of-interest concerns, though Dunn denied a formal partnership.[58]
Brave Cave Controversy
In August 2023, the Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD), under Broome, faced allegations of operating the "Brave Cave," an unmarked facility tied to torture and abuse. A lawsuit claimed officers beat Jeremy Lee, fracturing his rib, leading to officer Troy Lawrence Jr.’s resignation.[59] Ternell Brown alleged an illegal strip-search and sexual humiliation there in June 2023.[60] Emails showed Broome and officials knew of abuse claims since January 2023, despite her denying awareness until August.[61] The FBI launched a civil rights probe in September 2023, following multiple lawsuits.[62] Broome suspended the facility, but critics questioned her oversight.[63]
MoveBR and Green Light Plan
Broome promoted MoveBR, a transportation program in East Baton Rouge Parish, often citing it as a key achievement. However, MoveBR is a rebranded version of the Green Light Plan, launched by former Mayor Kip Holden in 2006. Managed by CSRS Inc., the original plan included 42 road projects funded by a half-cent sales tax and $300 million in bonds to address post-Hurricane Katrina congestion.[64] Critics argue Broome overstated her role, as the Green Light Plan was about 70% complete by her administration’s start.[65]
Appointments
Following the resignation of BRPD Chief Murphy Paul in 2023, amid the Brave Cave scandal, Broome appointed Thomas Morse as police chief in December 2023.[66][67]
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.[68][69] Broome received endorsements from Congressman Troy Carter,[70] former opponent Ted James,[71] and former Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.[72]
On December 7, Broome lost to Sid Edwards in the runoff election. [73]
Personal life
Sharon Weston Broome was single for most of her adult life until marrying Marvin Alonzo Broome in 2000.[74] She has no biological children but became a stepmother to his three children from a previous marriage, whose biological mother died of cancer, upon their marriage.[10][75] She has three grandchildren through her stepchildren.
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