BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Incumbent East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome thanked her supporters Sunday after losing her bid for re-election.

“To my team, my family, my friends, and every single one of you who believed in me; I cannot thank you enough,” Broome said in an email to supporters.

Broome, a Democrat, was defeated in Saturday’s runoff election against Republican Sid Edwards.

Edwards, a political newcomer, received 54 percent of the vote.

”You have been the hands and feet of this campaign, knocking on doors, making calls, donating funds, and sharing our vision for a better Baton Rouge,” Broome’s email said.

Saturday marked the first time Broome has lost any election in her lengthy political career.

The 68-year-old Broome, a former television reporter, entered politics after winning a seat on the Baton Rouge Metro Council. From 1992 to 2004, she was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. She went on to serve in the State Senate until 2016 when she entered and won the race for EBR Mayor-President.

In 2017, she was sworn is an the first female to ever hold the office of Mayor-President in East Baton Rouge Parish. She was seeking her third term in office.

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