Brett Duncan

Brett Duncan, who will seek the 12th District seat in the Louisiana Senate. The election is Oct. 24, 2015.

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Brett Duncan, the president of the Tangipahoa Parish School Board, has announced he will run for the 12th District seat in the Louisiana Senate. The district includes Washington Parish and part of St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes.

The incumbent, Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, is term-lmited and cannot seek re-election to the post. The election is Oct. 24.

Duncan, a lawyer and the town attorney for Independence, is a lifelong resident of Tangipahoa Parish. He is a graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University and received a law degree from LSU. Duncan said he served 10 years in the Louisiana National Guard's 205th Engineer Battalion out of Bogalusa. In a campaign announcement, Duncan said he is a combat veteran and served a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Duncan said much of his time on the School Board has been focused on resolving the district's decades-old desegregation case. "Finding a way to finally resolve the desegregation case has been a difficult challenge, but it has also been some of the most rewarding work I've done both personally and professionally," he said.

"I'm deeply concerned about what's been going on in our Legislature the last few years," Duncan, a Republican, said. "We seem to just be navigating from one crisis management situation to another. Folks in Baton Rouge are actually talking about closing universities like Southeastern and community hospitals like Lallie Kemp. Loyal, hard working teachers and public employees are often left feeling betrayed and dejected. I look at the situation and ask myself, Where are the leaders? Where is the courage?''

Among the groups Duncan said he is involved with are the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce and the Boy Scouts of America, where he is an Eagle Scout and recently was an assistant scout master and district chairman. He also said he is a small group leader at Church of the King in Mandeville.

Duncan and his wife have two children.