By The Numbers for Week 8 of the Prep Football Season
October 28, 2015
Lafourche, Terrebone Halloweens moved to Friday
October 28, 2015Voters in Lafourche Parish decided who they want to represent them in parish government last Saturday, casting their vote in Saturday’s primary election.
Candidates who did not receive a majority vote or half of all votes plus at least one will head to run-off elections during the election on Nov. 21.
The two candidates in any such particular race who receive the most votes face off at the polls on that day, deciding who wins the position.
The next Clerk of Court in Lafourche Parish is Annette Fontana, Democrat, an assistant district attorney for Lafourche Parish, receiving 51 percent of the vote.
Fontana ran against Chief Deputy Clerk Vernell “Nell” Autin, Democrat, who has worked at the clerk’s office for 22 years.
In the race to represent District 1, no candidate received a majority vote, so incumbent Councilman Jerry Jones, Democrat, will go to a run-off election against Alfred “Al” Carter, Republican. Jones garnered 33 percent of the votes cast and Carter received 29 percent.
In the race for Council District 2, “Luci” Sposito, Republican, won the seat with 61 percent of the vote.
Incumbent Councilman Michael F. Delatte, Democrat, only received 39 percent of the total 2,957 votes cast in the election.
In the case of the Council District 3 race, voters overwhelmingly chose to elect Michael T. Gros, Republican, with 72 percent of the vote.
Gros will replace Councilman Aaron Caillouet, who ran for parish president this election and got 15 percent.
The Council District 4 race will be decided by the voters in a run-off. No candidate received a majority vote in this election, so candidates Aaron “Bo” Melvin, No Party, and Joseph Dantin, Democrat, will head to a run-off in November. Of the total 2,935 votes cast, Melvin received 35 percent and Dantin received 27 percent.
Joseph Fertitta vacated the seat to run for parish president, but with only 19 percent of the votes, failed to make it to the run off.
Officially, the ballot for District 5 remained empty last Saturday after incumbent Councilman John Arnold, Republican, who sailed into his District 5 seat unopposed on the Oct. 24 primary, was disqualified for neglecting to pay $5,000 in fees related to missed deadlines in previous elections.
Arnold has since paid his fines to the Louisiana Board of Ethics. The next election that could decide the District 5 seat is the one scheduled for March 5. Candidates must qualify between Dec. 2 and Dec. 4.
The council will vote on whether or not to hold a special election sooner than that date during a special meeting tomorrow, Tuesday Oct. 26.
The meeting will start at 4:30 p.m. in the Parish Council Chambers at the Mathews Government Complex at 4876 Louisiana Highway 1, Mathews, La. 70375. Afterwards will be the regularly scheduled council meeting.
Incumbent Councilman Lindell Toups, No Party, is headed to a run-off against Corey Perrillioux, No Party, to see who will represent Council District 6. Toups secured 47 percent of the total 2,401 votes cast in the district. Perrillioux scooped up 31 percent of the votes.
The electorate of District 7 overwhelmingly decided to have Lockport Fire Chief Armand “Noonie” Autin, Republican, replace Phillip Gouaux in the council seat.
Gouaux, who has served four terms as councilman, is retiring at the end of the year.
Autin ran against Ron Sapia, who serves as president of the Lafourche Parish Youth Council, an advisory group that is supposed to help high school student government representatives have a voice in local parish government. Unfortunately, the group hasn’t been able to recruit enough members and hasn’t met in years.
Incumbent Councilman Jerry Lafont, No Party, came close to achieving a majority vote last Saturday, receiving 46 percent of the total 2,286 votes cast in the race to represent District 8 on the council.
Lafont will face off with Gary Champagne, Democrat, in the run-off election in less than a month. A third candidate, Darryl Marlbrough, No Party, received 522 votes, equaling 23 percent of the vote.
Lafourche Parish District 9 will have four more years of the Red Coat, with incumbent Councilman Daniel Lorraine, Other, securing 57 percent of the total 2,289 votes cast for the seat. •
