SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A Caddo District Judge has ruled that Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins is disqualified from this year’s mayoral election.
The ruling from Judge Brady O’Callaghan came early Tuesday afternoon, one day after a hearing in a lawsuit challenging Perkins’s candidacy. The suit was based on an alleged inaccurate residence address and voter registration on Perkins’ election-qualifying paperwork.
Louisiana law dictates that unless a candidate is in a nursing home, veterans’ home, or is running for the U. S. House or Senate, they must be registered to vote from the same address where they claim the homestead exemption.
The 65-page lawsuit claims Perkins lives in a condominium on Marshall Street in downtown Shreveport and uses Louisiana’s homestead exemption for that residence, but that he is registered to vote using an address on Stratmore Circle. In his Notice of Candidacy filing on July 22, Perkins certified the Stratmore address in south Shreveport as his residence instead of the address of the condo where he claims his homestead exemption in downtown Shreveport.
It was confirmed in court during Monday’s hearing that Perkins changed his voter registration to his downtown address on Saturday, July 30, the day after the lawsuit was filed.
Louisiana law also provides that the filing of a false and/or inaccurate certification on a Notice of Candidacy disqualifies the candidate from the election that the candidacy has been filed.
Perkins can appeal the ruling to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and he is expected to do so. If the ruling stands, Perkins will not be on the November primary ballot for mayor.
As it stands now, Perkins will continue to serve as the mayor of Shreveport until his term ends this year when the winner of the mayor’s race is sworn into office.
