Shreveport elects its first Republican mayor in 28 years

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — Voters in Shreveport have elected a Republican mayor for the first time in 28 years. Tom Arceneaux won a runoff election Saturday to become the next mayor of Louisiana’s third-largest city. A white Republican, 71-year-old Arceneaux defeated state Sen. Greg Tarver, a Black Democrat, in a city where roughly 55% of registered voters are African American. Arceneaux’s campaign got a major boost during the runoff when he was endorsed by outgoing Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins and the city’s two previous mayors _ all of them Black Democrats.  Arceneaux noted in his victory speech Saturday that voters had “looked beyond historical barriers and distinctions.” Shreveport’s last Republican mayor, Bo Williams, was elected in 1994.