Sid Edwards

Emile "Sid" Edwards (born January 5, 1963) is an American politician and former high school football coach who has served as the mayor-president of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish since January 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he defeated Democratic incumbent Sharon Weston Broome in the runoff of the 2024 Baton Rouge mayoral election, receiving 54 percent of the vote. He was the first Republican elected mayor-president since Bobby Simpson in 2000. Before entering politics, Edwards spent 27 seasons as a head football coach at five Louisiana high schools and compiled a record of 203–91. His teams at Redemptorist High School won state football championships in 2002 and 2003, and he also coached the school's boys basketball team to a state championship in 2003. Edwards later served as head football coach and dean of students at Istrouma High School. He was inducted into the Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2026. Edwards campaigned on addressing crime, blight and homelessness. As mayor-president, he has overseen the transfer of municipal services and sales-tax revenue to the newly incorporated city of St. George. His administration also proposed the Thrive EBR tax-rededication plan to address a city-parish budget shortfall. Voters rejected all three components of the proposal in November 2025, after which the Metropolitan Council adopted departmental and workforce reductions for the 2026 budget.