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COVINGTON, LA — St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister has won multiple elections, most with large margins or even no opposition.
She also led the Republican Party in the state and served two terms on the parish council.
But when Brister sought her third term as parish president, she was pushed into a runoff with former Covington mayor Mike Cooper. It was a first for Brister. On election night, Brister was handed a solid defeat.
Instead of hosting a campaign party at one of the Northshore’s popular establishments, as she had for previous election,
she invited campaign workers, family, and supporters to watch the results at her home in Covington. Afterwards, they joined her when she spoke with reporters.
It’s not just a difficult loss for Brister. Her family and supporters are also coping with outcome.
“I don’t have any regrets, Brister told reporter Saturday night after conceding the race. “We did everything we could and everything we should have done. It was just that time. It was time for change.”
Brister had many accomplishments to run on including the creation of the Safe Haven hospital in Lacombe and the approval of a multi million dollar widening project for I-12 in the parish.
But during her second term, Brister also pushed for multiple tax measures, some of which were squashed by voters.
When all the votes were finally counted at a little after 10:00 Saturday night, Brister received 39% of the vote while her challenger, Cooper, got 61%.
“It doesn’t change our parish. We’re still a great place to live, and we will be for a long time,” Brister said.
Brister said she reached out to Cooper to congratulate him and promised to work closely to assure a seamless transition.
