Josh Guillory
| Joshua Slavone "Josh" Guillory | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 6, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Joel Robideaux |
|---|---|
| Born | January 8, 1983 Lafayette, Louisiana |
| Spouse(s) | Jamie Guillory Three children |
| Occupation | Attorney |
Joshua Slavone Guillory, known as Josh Guillory (born January 8, 1983), is the mayor-president of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, an elected position that he assumed on January 6, 2020.[1] Lafayette is the fourth largest city in the state.
An attorney by profession, Guillory served for five months in the United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom. On November 6, 2018, he ran unsuccessfully for Louisiana' 3rd congressional district seat in the primary. Guillory carried the endorsement of President Trump's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City. Giuliani backed Guillory because Giuliani's paramour, Jennifer LeBlanc, left the employment of Representative Higgins, reportedly on good terms, but she opposed Higgins' re-election. Giuliani and LeBlanc hosted a fund-raiser for Guillory. Guillory called Higgins "a phony and a hypocrite," having cited Higgins' vote to raise the debt ceiling. "At some point, we have to take fiscal responsibility seriously. I will not vote to increase our national debt. We have got to get our spending under control." Guillory claimed that Higgins had put party politics above his constituents.[2]
In the seven-candidate field in the primary, Guillory, with 13 percent of the ballots, lost to Higgins, who won the seat outright with 56 percent of the primary ballots to score his second term. Despite th harsh rhetoric Guillory raised against Higgins, the congressman the next year endorsed Guillory for the mayor-presidency.[3]
In the mayoral campaign, Guillory led a five-candidate primary field with 31 percent of the vote. Guillory was forced into a runoff with the No Party candidate, Carlee Alm-LaBar, who drew 28 percent of the vote in the primary race on October 12, 2019. The third-placed candidate, Republican Simone Champagne, a conservative who formerly was a state representative for Iberia and Vermilion parishes, finished with 24 percent. In the general election on November 16, Guillory defeated Alm-LaBar, 43,130 votes (56 percent) to 34,047 (44 percent).[4] Alm-LaBar carried the backing of Higgins' Moderate Republican predecessor in Congress, Charles Boustany, and Lafayette Tax Assessor Conrad Comeaux.[3]
In the early months of his administration, Mayor-President Guillory focused on the coronavirus pandemic and falling gasoline prices, which were estimated to cost the city at least $10 million in lost revenues, a loss of a projected 10 percent.[5] Guillory faces the implementation of home-rule charter amendment that requires a separate Lafayette City Council and Lafayette Parish Council, rather than City-Parish Council that has governed since 1996.[6]
Guillory and his wife, Jamie, have three children.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Joshua Guillory. Mylife.com. Retrieved on May 4, 2020.
- ↑ Elizabeth Crisp (July 21, 2018). A day with one-of-a-kind U. S. Rep. Clay Higgins: 'Dog the Bounty Hunter', motorcycles, tattoos, more. The Baton Rouge Advocate. Retrieved on July 25, 2018.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bernadette Lee (October 28, 2019). Congressman Clay Higgins Endorses Josh Guillory. KPEL Radio. Retrieved on May 4, 2020.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 12 and November 16, 2019.
- ↑ Andrew Capps (April 21, 2020). Mayor-President Josh Guillory: COVIS-19, oil slump will leave Lafayette $10 million short. The Lafayette Daily Advertiser. Retrieved on May 4, 2020.
- ↑ Claire Taylor (November 16, 2019). Josh Guillory elected Lafayette Parish mayor-president. The Baton Rouge Advocate. Retrieved on May 4, 2020.