[8] During the first wave of The Great Migration Sharon Weston Broome’s parents were a part of the 6 million African American southerners relocating to northern midwestern cities.
[11] Broome then moved to the state of Wisconsin where she then went on to receive her Bachelors of Arts degree for Mass Communications at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.
In 2002, Broome introduced House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 74 which condemned "Darwinism" as justifying racism and Nazism.
[20] Term-limited in the Senate, Broome was the first candidate to declare her intentions to run in 2016 to succeed Kip Holden as Mayor-President for East Baton Rouge Parish.
One of her main focuses was maintaining a united parish where everyone is represented, including low-income residents and college students.
[28] During her first term, several of Broome’s proposed budgets included allocated funds for law enforcement and public safety improvements.
[29] Broome’s 2019 budget, which was approved unanimously by the Metro Council, included funds to purchase new equipment for law enforcement.
[30] Her proposed budget for 2021 also allocated funds to increase the pay rate for police officers, and hire additional EMS personnel.
[32] This appointment occurred several months after the retirement of former police chief, Carl Dabadie, who Broome had promised to replace during her campaign.
Several human resources professionals claim that the Bell selection could have been avoided had Broome followed a different approach to vetting candidates for appointments.
[34] Broome announced thereafter that she will spearhead the search for her next CAO selection to prevent problems like those that surfaced in the Bell case.
[35] During Broome's first term, there were concerns that the Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination Program (BRAVE) contracts issued by her office were not meeting federal funding requirements.
In July 2017, Buddy Amoroso, a member of the Metro Council, requested that the Louisiana Legislative Auditor and the Office of the Inspector General investigate if the approved contracts adhered to federal regulations.
[37] In August 2017, Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore announced that he was seeking a list of confidential informant names that were erroneously released by Mayor-President Broom's office.
[39] Voters approved the half-cent sales tax on December 8, 2018, in what is viewed as a big victory for the mayor-president that demonstrates her being able to garner bipartisan support from the business community.
[41] Broome also prioritized the parish's stormwater master plan, following the deadly 2016 flooding that occurred in Baton Rouge.
During her campaign, Mayor-President Broome lacked public support, which led to the race drawing seven total candidates.
[54] Following the retirement of former police chief Murphy Paul, Broome appointed Thomas Morse to the position in December 2023.
Before the 2024 Baton Rouge mayoral election was held on November 5, Broome's top opponents were Democratic challenger Ted James and Republican Sid Edwards.
[57][58] Broome received endorsements from Congressman Troy Carter,[59] former opponent Ted James,[60] and former Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.