Political Career
A Republican, Batt served as the only member of his party on the New Orleans City Council, from 2002 to 2006, having represented District A.
District A runs from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain just below the Jefferson Parish line in New Orleans. It includes some of the most affluent sections of town, and some the most seriously damaged by the Levee failures of 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. The severe breech of the 17th Street Canal in the West End and Lakeview neighborhoods which was responsible for much of the flooding of the city is in District A. The largest section of District A to escape severe flooding was Carrollton.
Batt's promotion of various commercial developments over the objections of neighborhood associations aroused the opposition of some constituents in the year before Katrina. One group of dissatisfied District A constituents formed the "Anybody But Batt" political action committee to promote the election of a new councilperson for the district.
Batt faced an unusually difficult reelection bid for an incumbent New Orleans city councilmember. Batt succeeded in gaining more votes than any of his numerous opponents, and faced Shelley Stephenson Midura in a run-off election, which he lost. Midura is registered as a Democrat, but succeeded in also getting the endorsement of some of Batt's Republican primary opponents in the (since 1980) usually Republican District A.
Batt sought to regain his former seat in 2010, running against attorney and community activist Susan Guidry (D), Virginia Blanque (R) and Fred Robertson (independent). In the 6 February election, Batt came in second with 39% of the vote behind Guidry with 44%. . Guidry and Batt faced a runoff election on 6 March, which Batt lost with 38% of the vote to Guidry's 62% .
Batt is currently serving as Deputy Chairman of the Republican State Central Committee as well as Chairman of the Orleans Parish Republican Executive Committee. He was also elected Chairman of the Orleans Parish Board of Supervisors of Elections in 2012 (an organization in which he had been a member since 2008). Other boards and commission seats held by Batt are as follows: Board Member of the Planning and Technical Committee of the New Orleans Planning Commission from 2008-2010, President Elect of the Sugar Bowl Committee from 2012 to present, Crimestoppers Trustee from 2004 to present, Board Member for Beacon of Hope from 2006 to present, and Board Member of the Delgado Foundation from 2006 to present
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