A look at how much money each Shreveport mayoral candidate raised in 2021

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - There’s a saying in politics: money equals speech.

If that’s true in the campaign to elect Shreveport’s next mayor, Senator Greg Tarver may end up with the loudest megaphone in the race. That’s because the last time candidates filed campaign finance reports, Tarver sat on the largest pile of cash. The reports cover campaign money raised in 2021, and they lay out the financial jumpstart Tarver is enjoying over his opponents.

Tarver’s disclosure shows him raising more than $277,000 in 2021. Those are cash contributions to his Senate campaign fund, but it’s money state law allows Tarver to transfer to his run for mayor.

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Meanwhile, finance reports show former city councilman, Tom Arceneaux, raising the second most money in 2021, with his contributions topping $116,000.

Incumbent Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins is next in line, with his report listing contributions of $104,000 and some change.

Mario Chavez, a Caddo Parish commissioner, rounds out the top four with a little less than $2,000 leftover from his commission campaign.

The other two candidates for mayor, Tracy Mendels and Darryl Ware II, did not file campaign finance reports for 2021.

So that’s just the amount of cash each mayoral candidate had coming into the 2022 election year, raising the question: what do the six campaign war chests look like now? That answer isn’t yet clear because candidates aren’t required to disclose how much campaign money they’ve raised this calendar year until Oct. 11.

That’s a little less than a month before the mayoral primary on Nov. 11.

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