Lafont wins reelection
November 22, 2015
Amedee beats Harrison
November 22, 2015A Terrebonne Parish councilwoman unseated a veteran state legislator and will take her place as the State Rep. for District 51 Jan. 1.
Beryl Amedee, R-Houma, defeated Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville, with a four-point lead, 4,101 votes to 3,783, or 52 percent to 48 percent.
District 51 includes portions of Terrebonne, Assumption and St. Mary parishes.
Amedee’s supporters waged an aggressive media campaign that included radio advertisements calling attention to already highly publicized issues that have come up regarding Harrison’s use of campaign funds for fuel and travel-related expenses.
Harrison’s campaign focused on his record, which included frequent challenges to outgoing Gov. Bobby Jindal.
“It has been amazing to come from being a councilwoman, a name nobody knew to beating a very entrenched good old boy incumbent,” said Amedee, reached Saturday night at her home. “It was the grace of God and the very humbling favor of the voters. I hope to do them proud.”
Amedee herself did a lot of door-knocking – as did Harrison.
She credits her success in large part to the personal contact with voters, many in parishes where she had very little of a public profile.
Dissatisfaction with the Common Core federal educational protocols and concerns about the economy, Amedee said, were high on the list of concerns voters expressed to her.
