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Nathaniel Hearn, a 31-year-old Republican and political newcomer, is running for mayor of Baton Rouge.
That’s according to Roy Fletcher, who tells Daily Report that Hearn formally entered the race about two weeks ago. Fletcher, president of political consulting firm Fletcher Consultants LLC, is Hearn’s media and general consultant.
Hearn, an actor and administrative assistant at Lazarre Law Firm, doesn’t have any prior political experience—and that’s something Fletcher views as a positive.
“It’s a good thing that he doesn’t [have political experience],” Fletcher says. “40-year-olds, 50-year-olds and 60-year-olds who have been in public office for 20 years have failed Baton Rouge. Look around you. A 31-year-old who’s a wholly different human being is absolutely what’s needed in this community.”
While not much information about Hearn is currently available online, Fletcher says official social media profiles will be launched within the next two or three days and that a campaign website will be launched within the next seven days.
As far as his platform goes, Fletcher describes Hearn as a fiscal conservative who’s “all in” when it comes to St. George. Hearn is also likely to address crime and economic development in his campaign messaging.
“[Hearn] is very much concerned that we have an enormous bureaucracy in city-parish government that needs to be modernized and streamlined and that is not producing a return on investment,” Fletcher says.
Fletcher says Hearn has already gotten to work raising funds for his campaign and that he will report exact figures when he is legally required to do so.
Hearn joins two Democrats who have already announced their candidacies: former state Rep. Ted James and incumbent Sharon Weston Broome. James has raised about $506,745 and spent about $87,530 thus far, while Broome has raised roughly $307,257 and spent roughly $96,567. Broome is running for her third term.
