Roger Villere’s Run As La. GOP Chairman Ends After 14 Yrs.
Louisiana Republican Party Roger Chairman Villere will relinquish his role on Saturday after serving for 14-years.
It’s believed he’s the longest serving chairman to lead a state Republican Party in the country. Villere says during that time, the political demographics have certainly changed, making the GOP the dominant party for statewide offices.
"When I took over, we had one statewide elected official and that was Fox McKeithen. And today we have one statewide elected Democrat. So we completely swept that scenario."
When Villere took over as GOP Chairman, the only Republican statewide official was the late Secretary of State Fox McKeithen. Now it has completely flipped the other way. Villere says there’s also been an increase in registered Republican voters.
"When I took office, the Democrats had three times more registered Democrats than they had with Republicans. Today they still have more, but it's less than double."
A new party chairman will be elected on Saturday at the Old State Capital in Baton Rouge, where the Republican State Central Committee will meet. Villere says the goal for the new chairman should work on getting more Republican mayors elected.
"And you look at the city of New Orleans. The crime rate is outrageous, the murder rate is one of the highest per capita in the nation. They don't have good water to drink, the roads are terrible."
Villere says he will still be involved in the Republican Party by starting a consulting group to get a GOP prepared to run against 2nd District Democrat Congressman Cedric Richmond.