Joey Durel - The Election of 2003

The Election of 2003

The position of City-County Parish President is term limited – a maximum of three four-year terms. Incumbent President Walter Comeaux, a Democrat, declined to seek a third term, and supported fellow Democrat Glenn M. Weber in the election, which was run under Louisiana's unusual jungle primary, held on October 4, 2003.

Durel (the only Republican in the field) led the jungle primary with 41 percent of the vote, compared to 29 percent for Weber and 19 percent for Floyd Domingue (also Democrat, and a land man; one who obtains land for oil drilling rights), received 19 percent of the ballots. Three lesser candidates divided the remaining 11 percent.

Durel and Weber hence went into the general election held on November 15. Durel won with 34,806 votes (52 percent) to Weber's 32,113 (48 percent). The mayor-presidency vote mirrored the gubernatorial totals in Lafayette Parish. Republican Bobby Jindal received 34,951 votes (52 percent) to Democrat Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's 32,734 (48 percent). Blanco won the governorship but lost her home parish of Lafayette. Durel trailed Jindal by only 145 votes in the parish, and Weber trailed Blanco by 621 ballots. On the surface, there appeared to have been relatively little ticket-splitting in the two Lafayette Parish races. After his defeat, Weber became the director of the Lafayette Association of Retarded Citizens.

Asked how he won the mayor-presidency as a candidate without previous experience, Durel said: "Having never run for political office, it was a new experience. It was a total family effort in the decision to run and in the race itself. . . . The decision was not easy given the perception (and a little reality) of politics in Louisiana. Our attitude was to become part of the solution; so if we didn't get involved, we had no one to blame but ourselves. It also took the support of the many great people in our community that wanted nothing more than to see Lafayette be given the opportunity to grow and to prosper."

After succeeding to office with no opposition, Durel's second term continues to one of progress for the city and parish of Lafayette. With strong support from all facets of the community, Durel is able to move forward thinking initiatives to reality. He has been awarded the Distinguished Citizen Award by the Boy Scouts and has won national awards and recognition for his Fiber To The Home initiative. The Independent Weekly has praised Durel for his visionary leadership because of his support of the Arts and Cultural community in Lafayette. In an editorial dated August 4, 2010, Walter Pierce said that he has trouble praising politicians and especially Republican politicians, but that Durel has earned it. This was a result of his support of the arts and primarily because of his efforts to preserve 100 acres in the center of Lafayette for a passive park that would be enjoyed for generations to come. See the entire article at http://www.theind.com/re/6689-our-new-old-chief-exec