State representative, district judge runoffs on Saturday’s ballot

Runoffs for state representative and district judge highlight the local races in Saturday’s gubernatorial general election.
On some St. Mary Parish voters’ ballots will be the State Representative District 51 runoff between Beryl Adams Amedee, R-Gray, and incumbent Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville. District 51 includes parts of Assumption, St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes. Sections of Morgan City and Amelia are in that district.
Also on the ballot is the Division D district judge runoff in the 16th Judicial District between Eddie Guidry, R-St. Martinville, and Lewis Pitman, R-New Iberia. The 16th Judicial District covers Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary parishes.
In the state representative primary, Amedee, who is a Terrebonne Parish councilwoman, got 41 percent of the vote, and Harrison, who is running for his third and final term, received 37 percent of the vote. Morgan City resident Howard Castay got 23 percent of the primary vote.
In the district judge primary, Guidry and Pitman both received 36 percent of the vote. Morgan City attorney Nick LaRocca finished third in the primary getting 28 percent of the vote.
Also on the ballot for Tri-City voters is a proposition for St. Mary Parish District No. 3 in Bayou Vista to combine two millages totaling 8.78 mills, which would have expired in 2017 and 2020, respectively, District Chairman Stan Robison said. The proposed property tax would fund maintenance for park and recreational facilities.
If approved, the tax will continue for 20 years on all property subject to taxation in the district, generating an estimated $838,000 expected to be collected annually.
St. Mary Parish council runoffs on the ballot include the District 1 race between Craig Mathews, D-Jeanerette, and Patrice Rodriguez Picard, D-Franklin, and the District 3 race between Rodney Olander, R-Franklin, and Dale Rogers, D-Franklin.
Statewide runoffs on the ballot include the governor’s race between state Rep. John Bel Edwards, D-Amite, and U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-Metairie; the lieutenant governor’s race between East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden, D-Baton Rouge, and Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, R-Belle Chasse; and the attorney general runoff between incumbent Buddy Caldwell, R-Baton Rouge, and Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia.
In the Oct. 24 gubernatorial primary, Edwards got 40 percent of the vote to Vitter’s 23 percent. State Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle and Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne finished with 19 percent and 15 percent of the vote, respectively.
For the lieutenant governor’s primary, Holden received 33 percent to Nungesser’s 30 percent of the vote. Jefferson Parish President John Young got 29 percent in the primary.
Caldwell received 35 percent of the vote in the attorney general primary, while Landry garnered 33 percent in that race. Geri Broussard Baloney, D-Garyville, got 18 percent of the primary vote. Caldwell is seeking a third term as attorney general.
St. Mary Parish voter turnout was 41.1 percent for the primary, down from the 46.4 percent turnout for the 2011 gubernatorial primary. Of the 32,625 registered voters in the parish, 13,419 voted in the Oct. 24 primary election.
Statewide voter turnout was 39.2 percent for the primary compared to the 37.4 percent turnout for the 2011 gubernatorial primary.
As of the end of early voting on Nov. 14, 3,316 voters had cast ballots in St. Mary Parish, up slightly from the 3,296 votes cast for the primary election by the Oct. 17 early voting deadline.
To find a polling location and what’s on a precinct’s ballot, online visit stmarynow.com and click on “Voter Information Project” on the right side of the page.