House Race's Attention

The race to fulfill an open seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives has been relatively quiet, as announced candidates have been campaigning, trying to get their messages out to voters. House District 16 seat in the Louisiana legislature became vacant when former representative Fred Jones, son of former State Senator Charles Jones, who had the seat, was elected judge to the Fourth District Court. The seat was held by Katrina Jackson until she left the House to run for former State Senator Francis Thompson's seat (SD-34) in the Senate because of term limits in the Senate. The contest has been with three announced candidates: Alicia 'Cocoa" McCoy Calvin, Adrian Fisher, and Bishop Charles Henry Bradford of Bastrop. Lately, the focus of the race seemed to have centered around Calvin and Fisher, especially since Senator Katrina Jackson has been seen giving her support to Fisher, who some know in the community, but is reported to have had a controversy involving former business partner Billy Foster back in 2006. Fisher, who is also a pastor at Living Water Ministries, spoke with the Monroe Dispatch concerning that association with Foster and said that the reason ties were severed with Foster was because he (Foster) wanted to share in the business' profit after he left the business. Fisher shared that there was a "corporate business agreement that dictated the responsibilities" of each partner and the share of the profits based on what that person did. Fisher said that Foster left the business and filed suit in 2006, but before he left, according to Fisher, Foster started his own business to compete with the business that he and Fisher built. Around 2013, Fisher said that Foster filed an amendment to his 2006 suit, making additional claims that he should share in the profits. The lawsuit was heard in the courtroom of Fourth Judicial District Judge Carl Sharp, where it was challenged on the grounds that Fisher had a close relationship with Fisher. Judge Daniel Ellender of the same District ruled that Sharp could hear the case. Sharp would throw things in a legal mess when he retired before the case came to a conclusion, where Judge Marcus Hunter ruled in Fisher's favor. Fisher said that the ruling end of Foster's lawsuit would have been over, but due to COVID concerns, the settlement of the case was pushed back; the important thing was that he won. Fisher has several businesses in the area, none of which were affected by the ruling in the court case against Foster. Fisher said that he wants to clear up any notion that he and Sen. Jackson have "cooked" up any deals between them for her support. There are none, he contends. Fisher said that he also has the support of former Sen. Thompson and that of former Sen. Charles Jones. He said that "no strings were attached, nor promises made" but that he believes he is getting support because he is known for what he has done for the community.