Darryl Gissel
Darryl Gissel was a mayoral candidate for the city of Baton Rouge in Louisiana. He was defeated in the primary election on November 8, 2016.
Biography
Gissel earned his bachelor's degree in political science and master's degree in public administration from Louisiana State University. He is the owner of Oak Real Estate, which specializes in downtown properties. Gissel was the executive director of the Louisiana Republican Party from 1988 to 1993.[1]
Campaign themes
2016
Gissel participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of municipal government candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | Bring people of all backgrounds together to solve the city's problems.[2][3] | ” |
When asked what he would most like to change about the city, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | Heal geographical, racial, economic and partisan divisions in the city.[2][3] | ” |
When asked what he is most proud of about the city, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | The way we come together in times of crisis, especially during the difficult summer the City of Baton Rouge has experienced.[2][3] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| City services | |
| Transportation | |
| Crime reduction/prevention | |
| Civil rights | |
| K-12 education | |
| Environment | |
| Housing | |
| Government transparency | |
| Public pensions/retirement funds | |
| Homelessness | |
| Unemployment | |
| Recreational opportunities | |
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer four questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column:
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| Very important | |
| Federal | |
| Increased economic opportunities | |
| Create a more competitive business climate |
Additional themes
Gissel's campaign website listed the following themes:
| “ |
I am running for Mayor to try to help solve some of the problems in Baton Rouge, my home and the city I love. I am running as a Non-Party Candidate because our biggest problem is the things that divide us—and partisan politics is one of those things. People tell me only a professional politician with a party label can possibly be elected Mayor. But professional politicians are caught in their party positions, and are not bringing people together. Everyone knows our most pressing problems: our schools, traffic and transportation, and our criminal justice system. And it’s not that there are no solutions. It is that we won’t come together and try them. I am old enough to remember that it was not always this way. But that’s how it is now, and as your Mayor I will not try to impose my solutions. The power of the Mayor is the power to convene, and I will bring people together, make sure every voice is heard, and put pressure on them to join and make something happen. The truth is we are not in such bad shape. But we are stuck in the mud, and now is the time to get moving. We are a divided community and this election will set the course of what happens in our city for the next twenty years. Why twenty years? Because we are a divided community. What politics today is good at is dividing us further. Look, if we let politics and not people take over we are doomed to a generation of stalemate and decline in our quality of life. If we work on healing the divides, we can pick directions and solve problems. As a citizen/Mayor I will not let the divisions win. Trust me, government will keep going no matter what happens in this election. The real question of the election is will it give us, our children and grandchildren a high quality of life, good opportunities, and a city which functions to serve its people. [3] |
” |
| —Darryl Gissel (2016), [4] | ||
Elections
2016
| Mayor of Baton Rouge, Primary Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Sharon Weston Broome |
31.62% | 60,368 | |
| Republican | Bodi White |
29.36% | 56,059 | |
| Democratic | C. Denise Marcelle | 13.34% | 25,477 | |
| Republican | John Delgado | 8.41% | 16,049 | |
| Republican | R.J. Bourgeois | 6.13% | 11,710 | |
| Independent | Darryl Gissel | 5.88% | 11,228 | |
| Democratic | Greg LaFleur | 1.83% | 3,498 | |
| Democratic | Byron Sharper | 1.30% | 2,484 | |
| Libertarian | Rufus Craig | 1.05% | 2,002 | |
| Independent | Beverly Amador | 0.44% | 843 | |
| Republican | Braylon Hyde | 0.42% | 805 | |
| Independent | Cade Williams | 0.21% | 410 | |
| Total Votes | 190,933 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed November 8, 2016 | ||||
Endorsements
2016
Gissel received the endorsement of the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report on October 26, 2016.[5]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Darryl Gissel Baton Rouge. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Municipal elections in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (2016)
- United States municipal elections, 2016
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Nick Katers, "Email exchange with Darryl Gissel," July 11, 2016]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey, 2016, "Darryl Gissel's Responses," August 31, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Darryl Gissel for Mayor, "Learn More About Darryl," accessed August 23, 2016
- ↑ The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, "Publisher: Endorsements for Boustany, Graves and Gissel," October 26, 2016
