Annie Lovell
January 28, 2008January 30
January 30, 2008While the rest of the country is gearing up for what campaigners dub “Super Tuesday,” south Louisiana will celebrate Mardi Gras.
But Tri-parish voters will have a say Feb. 9 in the presidential primary.
Early voting continues statewide through Feb. 2 at parish Registrar of Voters offices.
Tri-parish voters will also get the opportunity to choose party members for their respective parish and state central committees. Voting is restricted to party lines; for example, registered Democrats will vote only for Democratic candidates and likewise for Republicans.
Democratic candidates vying for their party’s presidential nomination are Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama.
Over the past few months, Democratic candidates Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson have dropped out of the race, but their names will still appear on the ballot. Votes cast for these candidates will not count.
Republican candidates seeking their party’s presidential nomination are Jerry Curry, Daniel Gilbert, Rudolph Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Alan Keyes, John McCain, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney.
The Republicans, too, have seen candidates drop out. Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo and Fred Thompson have left the race, but their names will appear on the ballot. Voting for any of the three will disqualify one’s vote.
Tri-parish voters will also elect state representatives to the Democratic and Republican committees.
Persons who win these seats will bring partisan issues from parish committees to a statewide committee. In addition, these members work for the betterment of their statewide party as a whole.
Terrebonne, St. Mary and Lafourche Democrats, will consider three candidates for the District 51B seat: Dr. Irving Blatt of Schriever, Howard J. Castay Jr. of Morgan City, and Roger “Dale” Dehart of Theriot.
Morgan City’s Anna Cunningham won the District 51A seat unopposed.
The District 51B seat includes Gibson, Schriever and Gray in Terrebonne; Morgan City, Siracusaville and Amelia in St. Mary; and Schriever in Lafourche.
Other candidates winning unopposed Democratic State District seats in the Tri-parish area were: State Representative Sam Jones, of Franklin, District 50-B; Arlanda Williams, District 52-A; Patrick Yancey, District 52-B; Mary “Audrey” George, District 53A; S.P. LaRussa, District 53-B; Carol LeBlanc, District 54-A; Jimmy Cantrelle, District 54-B; and Matthew Block, District 55-B.
No one qualified for the District 50-A seat, and no female qualified for the District 55-A seat.
Terrebonne and St. Mary Republicans will consider state candidates in two races:
• Fred Fondren and Charles S. Gaiennie, both of Houma, are facing off in Subdistrict 52-B;
• Christian Gil of Patterson and Bill Moore of Franklin are vying for Subdistrict 50-A; and
• Jessie Morton and Glynn Pellerin, both of Franklin, for Subdistrict 50-B.
Republican candidates winning State Subdistrict seats unopposed in the Tri-parishes were: Leilani Hardee, Morgan City, Subdistrict 51-A; state Rep. Joe Harrison Jr., Napoleonville, Subdistrict 51-B; Kirby B. Fabre Jr., Houma, 52-A; Wallace Ellender III, Bourg, Subdistrict 53-A; Lenar Whitney, Houma, District 53-B; Frank Nezzio, Thibodaux, Subdistrict 55-A; and David Gauthe, Thibodaux, Subdistrict 55-B.
In Terrebonne, St. Mary and Lafourche parishes, qualifying was modest for the nine or more Democratic seats available. However, state law allows those who qualified at-large to appoint members to their respective committees.
In Terrebonne, real estate developer S.P. LaRussa won an at-large seat unopposed. He will have nine parish Democratic seats to appoint.
In St. Mary Parish, State Rep. Sam Jones and Teche Action Clinic CEO Dr. Gary Wiltz, both of Franklin, won unopposed at-large posts. They too will have nine parish Democratic seats to appoint.
In Lafourche, Raceland’s Lawrence Autin and Jimmy Cantrelle and Roland Chiasson, of Lockport, won three of the five at-large Democratic seats. Matthew Block, of Thibodaux, and Carol Lambert, of Raceland, won member seats. Autin, Cantrelle and Chiasson will have seven seats to appoint.
In Terrebonne, Dale Norred won one of five at-large Republican seats. June S. Williams and Barbara Cenac, both of Houma, won two of the nine parish member seats. Norred will have the task of appointing the seven other members.
In St. Mary, Robert Arceneaux, Herbert Estay Jr. and Christian Gil, all of Patterson, and Bill Moore and Glynn P. Pellerin, both of Franklin, won all five of the parish’s at-large Republican seats. They will have the task of appointing 11 other members.
