October 22
October 22, 2007
Richard Weaver
October 24, 2007
Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph accomplished something remarkable when she won re-election.
Simply put, she won re-election.
It is a feat no sitting parish president in Lafourche has been able to accomplish since the birth of the parish charter back in 1973.
She defeated her only challenger, Lafourche Parish Council Chairman Tommy Lasseigne, by getting 57 percent of the vote and winning with a more than 3,500 majority vote.
On Sept. 17 at a forum hosted by the Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce at the Jean Lafitte Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center, Randolph simply asked voters to look at the quality of their lives now compared to what it was four years ago before she took office.
“If you live in Lafourche, I think you’ve felt better about living in Lafourche the last four years, because of the leadership we’ve provided you,” Randolph said.
Re-elected, Randolph intends to focus on drainage.
“Drainage is the most important issue to the people of Lafourche,” she said.
Not only can hurricanes cause flooding in the parish, but rainfall can as well, Randolph explained.
She plans to appeal to the state and federal governments for additional money for pump stations, auxiliary functions and levees.
Lasseigne, her challenger, agreed drainage is the highest priority and had he been elected, he hoped to develop a master drainage plan for the parish.
Also of note are the results of the Louisiana state representative races in the 54th and 55th Districts.
In the 54th, Republican Mitchell “Mitch” Theriot faces a runoff against Democrat Jerry “Truck” Gisclair.
Theriot got 38 percent and Gisclair got 34 percent of the total vote, squeezing Democrat John “T John” Melancon, Jr., who got 29 percent, out of the runoff.
In the 55th, Jerome “Dee” Richard and Democrat Michael “Mike” Matherne will go to a runoff, catching 41 and 25 percent of the vote, respectively.
Democrat “Jay” Caillouet also got 25 percent of the vote, but actually had just two votes less than Matherne.
And Alfred “Al” Carter captured 10 percent of the vote.
