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Hot mic moment raises tensions in Baton Rouge mayor's race

Top East Baton Rouge mayoral candidates Sharon Weston Broome and Ted James debate at Manship Theater on Oct. 2, 2024.
Aidan McCahill
/
WRKF
Top East Baton Rouge mayoral candidates Sharon Weston Broome and Ted James debate at Manship Theater on Oct. 2, 2024.

This week, the race for Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge took a hostile turn when incumbent Sharon Weston Broome’s campaign released an attack advertisement on challenger Ted James. The radio ad, also sent by text message to voters across the Parish on Wednesday, presents two edited recordings of James seemingly caught on a hot mic.

In the first soundbite, James appears to make misogynistic comments about Broome’s ability to lead. “Quite honestly, a white man, if he knows he has to deal with somebody Black, would rather deal with another man than a woman… it's screwed up and honestly, I get to take advantage of it.”

The recording then accuses James of changing his position on the new City of St. George in exchange for Republican donations, after which he can be heard calling himself a “woke MAGA guy.”

Here's what you should know before you head to the polls.

In a statement released Wednesday, Broome said she was “troubled by his words.”

“That type of sexism and misogyny has no place in a better Baton Rouge,” she added.

The James campaign asserts the recording was secretly taken by M.E. Cormier, Broome’s campaign manager, in a private discussion between the two. They say the conversation was “sliced and diced,” and that his words were taken out of context.

“Unlike in Ms. Broome’s former life as a reporter, in this case, she has no objectively reasonable explanation: her campaign has lied about Ted James and used his own words against him—except those words were not spoken in the context that they have been presented today.”

The two were once considered close political allies up until James decided to challenge the two-term mayor earlier this year. As the race tightened, tensions have risen.

A recent poll released on Monday by FuturePAC, a political action committee for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, showed James at 29% and Broome at 28%, a reversal from a few months ago when Broome was in the lead. Republican Sid Edwards was trailing at 22%, according to the results.

James has also shattered fundraising records with more than $1 million in campaign contributions while Broome has raised more than $600,00, also outpacing previous cycles. However, Broome has criticized James for accepting money from Republicans like Eddie Rispone, a former Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate and advocate for St. George.

Throughout the campaign, James has touted support from Republicans as a testament to what he describes as his unifying vision for Baton Rouge.

“I know some folks want to use that as a liability, but I also think it's an enormous strength,” he said at an October Baton Rouge Press club lunch.

James’s team said his “Woke MAGA guy” comment was a joke he’s repeatedly made regarding his ability to garner bipartisan support–as well as a response to Broome’s accusations of taking bribes from Republicans.

As for what James said regarding women in politics, they assert James was not expressing his own views, but rather quoting “horrifying” remarks he had heard on the campaign trail.

Five candidates running for mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish debated for nearly two hours on Tuesday night.

James has released his own set of attack ads aired on local radio stations, though he’s shied away from personal attacks. In one ad, he blames Broome for the city’s high homicide rates, in another he accuses Broome of mishandling the city’s Head Start Program and highlights his endorsement from the Democratic party over Broome.

On Wednesday, the James campaign threatened legal action unless Broome’s campaign provided the full, uncut version to every radio and broadcast station they sent the ad to by noon the next day. That deadline has now passed.

Recording someone unknowingly is not a crime in Louisiana, and neither is the long standing tradition of political ads pulling unflattering quotes out of context.

But by portraying his words as responses to specific questions rather than part of a larger, unedited conversation, James’s team says Broome misrepresented his words and intentions, portraying him in a “false light.”

Unlike defamation, where one party makes an untrue statement about another, false light occurs when true facts are given a false impression by the context they are placed in.

“Quoting someone out of context is different then placing a quote in a defamatory context.” said Scott Sternberg, a first amendment lawyer in New Orleans who represents media organizations.

Whether or not an actual legal battle will ensue is unclear. Due to First Amendment protections designed to protect political discourse, it would likely be an uphill, costly struggle for a mayoral candidate.

“When private parties sue each other for defamation the bar is very low.” said Robert Garda, Jr. a law professor at Loyola University. “But when public figures sue each other, you need to prove through clear and convincing evidence there was actual malice in your statement.”

Garda says the same would likely apply to a public figure filing a false light claim. The plaintiff would need to prove the statement was made with actual malice–a legal standard requiring proof that the defendant made the statement with knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard for the truth.

“While the Supreme Court hasn’t looked at false light with respect to public figures. Everytime it concerns a tort about public figures, it's required this actual malice standard.” he added.

East Baton Rouge Residents will decide on two tax renewals for Baton Rouge Recreation and Commission (BREC) on Nov. 5.

Sternberg, who admitted he has supported James in the past, said there was an escape hatch for the Broome campaign.

“If the campaign wanted to end the questioning and the speculation altogether. They should just release the unedited audio for anyone to hear. But they won't do that. And that says a lot.” he said.

Meanwhile the jabs are likely to continue, possibly even after Election Day. If neither candidate receives over 50% of the vote, as many are predicting, the election will go to a runoff.

“As a Black woman who has successfully led this parish as Mayor-President, I am personally offended he believes we can’t work with anyone to get results. I’m also happy to prove him wrong on that point,” said Broome in a statement.

“This is what the death throes of a desperate politician look like now that the polls are showing our strong lead,” said a spokesperson for Ted James. “We will continue to weigh our legal options while she continues to humiliate herself.”

Though a full recording of their conversation has not been released, Broome’s campaign provided longer versions of the recordings used in the ad to WRKF. Below are the transcripts:

First recording

Ted James: Because they've already seen what they're gonna get with her and there's nothing downtown There's no movement on DPW. It's it's inaction It's it's a lot of turn over here in her office and a lot of them are willing to take a chance on on me and and quite honestly... This is screwed up. A white man, if he knows he got to deal with somebody

Black, would rather deal with another man than a woman, it's f— up. It's screwed up.And I'm honestly, I get to take advantage of it right now. And that's not going to change in four years. It's not going to change in eight years.

P1: I know that.

Ted James: And the funny thing is, I fight about it in terms of Kamala Harris, right? Like I fight about it because she's a personal friend of mine. She gets the same right now. The same like even people in our party, they, she if they don't care about Joe they just don't want her to be the president because she's a Black woman I get it, I understand it.

Second recording

Ted James: Saying it about me, I'm not gonna dive down this road because people have donated to you that you don't always agree with. People have donated to me that I don't always agree with and I don't want to confuse the voters by if some of y'all hate Eddie Rispone so much? Great, Davante Lewis is gonna endorse me so I got MAGA and LGBT like that's what I'm bringing together right so you can't say that I'm the Trump guy I got the first openly gay Black man as an elected official supporting me. I can't be both, right? I can't be woke and MAGA, right? And they're saying it all about me. I’m woke and MAGA. I'm a woke MAGA guy.

Aidan McCahill is general assignment reporter for WRKF and WWNO. He covers a wide range of stories in South Louisiana, often finding himself down bizarre rabbit holes.

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