Ad exec Paul Eason likely to be fourth candidate in M-P race

UPDATE: Eason announced June 12 that he will not run for mayor-president. Read his letter here.

Advertising executive Paul Eason is seriously eyeing the mayor-president’s race, telling me he will make a final decision on whether to seek the post by early June.

Eason says he has long had a passion for service and feels like the timing is right for him and his family now. The 60-year-old Republican businessman owns and operates Eason Advertising in the Oil Center. He left KATC-TV3 as sales manager in 1999 after a long career in broadcast sales and founded the local agency.

Eason also is on the board of directors of the land development firm Billeaud Companies in Broussard.

Eason would be the third Republican to enter the race, joining attorney Josh Guillory and Realtor Nancy Marcotte, who is expected to formally announce her candidacy next week. Carlee Alm-LaBar, who has no party affiliation, was the first to enter the race in mid-March, mounting a challenge to embattled first-term Mayor-President Joel Robideaux. Robideaux then surprised most observers a month later when he said he would not seek re-election.

“I’m looking at it real hard,” Eason tells me, saying he is still fielding calls from potential backers and talking to as many people he can while he finalizes his decision. “I think people want a Lafayette native.”

Eason says he would like to see city and parish forces work together to solve consolidated government’s most pressing issues, like drainage.