Parish president's race draws 2 challengers to incumbent Nungesser
by Dennis Persica - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser was thrust into the national spotlight in the wake of the BP oil spill, making nearly nightly appearances on network news shows, portrayed as just a regular guy doing battle against Big Oil and Big Government -- "America's Bubba," as CNN called him. Candidates for Plaquemines Parish president are Amos Cormier Jr., left, incumbent Billy Nungesser and Benny Rousselle.

But his two opponents in Saturday's election, the man he succeeded as parish president and the man he beat in 2006 to get the office, see him in a different light. Former Parish President Benny Rousselle and former Parish Councilman Amos Cormier Jr. depict Nungesser as a divisive figure who is profiting from the contracts he and other government agencies are handing out. "No one has divided this parish more than my opponent," Cormier, 64, said.

Meanwhile, Rousselle, 59, who couldn't run in 2006 because of term limits, said, "There are more lawsuits, more tension and conflict now than there has ever been in this parish. "He doesn't communicate with the parish council," Rousselle said. "And when he does, they can't believe what he says."