Susan Hutson defeated Marlon Gusman. She is the sheriff-elect in New Orleans. Ms. Hutson ran a brilliant campaign with strong talking points. Her most poignant moment came when she characterized the sheriff as on the bench on the sideline as sheriff. During the last weeks of the campaign, Gusman pointed out his record and began a fierce attack on Ms. Hutson. He called her a liar and said she was unqualified to become sheriff. Ms. Hutson countered that the Sheriff was out of touch with the community and offered no data about the goings on inside the sheriff’s office.
Ms. Hutson captured 53% of the vote. She promises to be “accountable transparent and community led.” She pointed out several issues that are probably issues of incumbency. The biggest was the lack of transparency from the sheriff. Historically the sheriff is insulated by the office. Former sheriff Charles Foti was famous for telling the mayor and city council, “How I run the jail is none of your business.”
SHOCKING
Polls in the last week of the campaign predicted Hutson’s victory. Still, when long winning streaks end abruptly shock, uncertainty, and euphoria swirl. Ms. Hutson’s solid defeat of Sheriff Gusman was like that. Gusman is the second longest tenured elected official in New Orleans. He had never lost a political campaign. Susan Hutson had never run for office before. His loss is shocking.
But New Orleanians are tired of no access to government information. The people want access to data. For example, Sheriff Gusman claimed to have deployed all kinds of resources around reentry. He talked about jobs training and case workers and hiring ex-offenders. Sheriff-elect Hutson countered that there was no data to support any of the claims. “It’s not on his website, you can’t call anyone to get it.”
But as we transition to the new era in the sheriff’s office, we do face some uncertainty.
Uncertainty
Susan Hutson is a progressive candidate. Her philosophy about jails is new and cutting edge. We don’t know how this might change the facility beyond free phone calls and no new mental health facility. Ms. Hutson promises to be community led. How will this happen? Will she hold monthly listening sessions? How do we gain a consensus? Is this the best approach? As much as people want input, they have little extra time. Will outside players who donated heavily to her campaign become the “community”? And Sheriff elect Hutson has said she will comply with the court’s wishes to get out from under the consent decree. But she also talked about challenging requirements of the consent decree.
Euphoria
Sheriff elect Hutson and her supporters were ecstatic election night. The citizens who supported her candidacy partied into the night. If she is able to deliver on her campaign promises, then the city will save money. We pay the entire cost of the monitors who report to the judge about the conditions in the jail. If Ms. Hutson can get local control of the jail, then New Orleanians can have a say in what happens in the jail. She plans to retrofit the existing jail to accommodate the mentally ill. This saves money and provides a faster solution for those who need mental health care in the jail.
Related: Sheriff Gusman Might be is serious trouble
Sheriff Gusman inherited a mess when he was first elected. He built a state-of-the-art facility. Gusman increased pay for deputies. He leaves it much better than he found it. He was a truly a public servant. Sheriff elect Hutson is in better shape than he was when he took over.
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of Executive Appraisers Louisiana, an MBE-certified real estate appraisal firm, and EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of Executive Appraisers Louisiana, an MBE-certified real estate appraisal firm, and EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu