TGMC honors March Employee of the Month
March 22, 2018
Parish-wide Recreation Board Meeting Tonight
March 27, 2018
Lafourche Parish voters have elected their new District Attorney.
Kristine M. Russell, the incumbent who ran unaffiliated, has been elected as the Lafourche Parish District Attorney, and will be serving the remaining two years of retired DA Cam Morvant’s term.
She defeated Brad K. Naquin, the Thibodaux City Court Prosecutor, who ran as Republican. Russell won 52 percent of the vote (9,534 votes) compared to Naquin’s 48 percent (8,708). They were the only two candidates on the ballot.
“I want to thank the citizens of Lafourche Parish. I’m very excited, and I am so humbled by how many of you have came out and voted,” said Russell through her Facebook page. “I’m very excited to hit the ground running on Monday morning as usual as your district attorney. Thank you again… I’m looking forward to serving you.”
The total number of qualified voters was 58,493. The majority of said voters were Democrat: 24,509 (41.9%). Republicans had 18,026 qualified voters (30.8%). All other qualified voters, 15,958, (27.3%).
Russel has been serving as interim District Attorney since November 3. This followed Former District Attorney Cam Morvant’s retirement. Morvant citied health concerns for his departure.
Prior to that, Russell was the assistant district attorney from 2003 through 2012, and first assistant district attorney from 2012-2017.
Before the election, Russell said that the alternatives to incarcerations or diversions from the criminal justice system, utilized during Morvant’s administration, had merit. She said that, where appropriate, she planned to use a full palette of diversions to better fit the needs of victims or prevent re-victimization.
She noted that drug court rules are set by the state, and therefore cannot be improved upon by one district attorney. She further said that she intended to continue working closely with law enforcement to recognize trends in criminal activity.
