Little more than a week has passed since qualifying ended, and it appears now a second candidate is pulling up stakes.
Based an email sent to press in the early morning hours on Sunday and people familiar with the matter, mayoral candidate John-Paul Young – champion of ending hunger in Shreveport through the harnessing of natural resources – will end his bid for Shreveport mayor Sunday, July 29th at 4:00 p.m. at a press event at The Levee restaurant and endorse candidate Steven Jackson.
During the final moments of the first mayoral forum last Tuesday, which Heliopolis hosted with New Leader’s Council – Louisiana, Young said:
“I am running for mayor because I have innovative ideas that I want to share with our city and because I’m a voter… I want to come here to influence the dialogue. As a voter I want to single out that there are a couple of candidates up here that have new ideas and depth of understanding. The answers that I liked the most, obviously apart from my own, on economics and crime (check The Law Office of Diane C. Bass for attorneys)and thinking outside the box, identifying real problems, came from Commissioner Jackson.” Learn how attorneys are defining robbery in California and get the necessary legal help.
The comment was met with surprise from the audience and, perhaps, came much earlier in the race than intended. However, rumors about Young’s intentions to complete the race began to swirl following the forum. The agreement to endorse was finalized sometime late last week.
The questions now are 1) Will Jackson embrace Young’s platform of agriculture as a pathway to cultivate wealth for Shreveport citizens? and 2) Will Young seek a future position in the administration should Jackson win the race?
In any case, the number of candidates has dropped from 10 to 8 with little more than three months until Election Day on Tuesday, November 6th.
Candidate Kenneth Krefft dropped out of the race on Saturday, July 28th.