Richland voters send multiple candidates to runoffs

Richland Parish voters faced a full slate of state and local elections during the Nov. 8 balloting.

Incumbent Mayor Jesse Washington will face former mayor Lynn Lewis in a runoff election in Delhi in December.

Washington received 36 percent with 436 votes while Lewis received 24 percent with 290 votes. 

Lennon Whitney Sr. received 20 percent with 237 votes while Bob Benson got 15 percent with 180 votes and Linda Rancher had five percent with 59 votes.

Roy Williams was returned to office as Delhi’s police chief by a 57-percent margin with 657 votes to Johnny Cleveland’s 491.

No candidate for alderman in Delhi managed to crack 51 percent.

In the race for District B, Bernard McDowell received 49 percent with 131 votes while Larry Houston had 29 percent with 77 votes. They will face a run off in December. Carlos Harris had 22 percent with 58 votes.

In District D, Nick Burgess led the balloting with 89 votes for 46 percent setting up a runoff against Lois Gray who had 22 percent with 43 votes. Donald Morrison had 39 votes for 20 percent and Todd Spinks had 22 votes for 11 percent.

In the race for District E, both candidates got 50 percent, with Bill McKinney edging out incumbent Ellen Oliver 118-117. With only two candidates in the race, this makes McKinney the winner unless the numbers change when the votes are certified.

In the race for Richland Parish School Board District 1, Linda Jones received 48 percent with 399 votes while Joe May had 30 percent with 247 votes. Billy Calvert had 180 votes for 22 percent. Jones and May will face each other in a runoff next month.

In school board district 2, William Cleveland won by 56 percent with 421 votes to Eugene Young’s 329.

In school board district 3, Reed Trisler won with 55 percent with 297 votes to Sharon Buie Jones’ 245.

In school board district 6, Marie Lewis won by 59 percent of the vote with 251 votes to Deanna Hubbard’s 172.

In the Town of Mangham, seven candidates sought five at-large positions. Winning were Lenette Romero with 94 votes for 19 percent, Courtney Brunson, Brandy Dannehl and Pamela Vaughn at 17 percent each with Brunson getting 85 votes and Dannehl and Vaughn getting 83 each, and Charlotte Boone with 57 votes for 11 percent. Andrea Ramsey got 51 votes for 10 percent and Cade Bonvillian got 47 votes for nine percent.

Voters in Ward One Rural Fire District also renewed a 6.55 mills property tax for 10 years by a 67 percent margin with a vote of 521 for it and 256 against.

In statewide races, Julia Letlow easily won re-election as the 5th Congressional District U.S. Representative by a 68 percent margin with 150,953 votes.

She was followed by Oscar Dantzler with 34,991 votes for 16 percent, Walter Huff with 19,263 votes for nine percent, Allen Guillory with 12,131 votes for five percent and Hunter Pullen with 5,778 votes for three percent.

In Richland Parish, Letlow carried 76 percent with 4,982 votes while Dantzler had 12 percent with 787 votes, Huff had nine percent with 587 votes, Guillory had two percent with 139 votes and Pullen had one percent with 68 votes.

John Kennedy overwhelmingly carried the election for U.S. Senator by 62 percent with 850,932 votes.

Gary Chambers had 18 percent with 246,633 votes. Luke Mixon had 13 percent with 182,535 votes and Syrita Steib had two percent with 31,498 votes and Devin Graham had two percent with 25,262. Finishing with one percent of the vote were Vinny Mendoza with 11,875 votes, Beryl Billiot with 9,368 votes and Salvador Rodriguez with 7,743. Ending the night with less than one percent of the vote were Bradley McMorris with 5,381 votes, Aaron Sigler with 4, 861, Xan John with 2,751, W. Thomas Olson with 1,672 and Thomas Wenn with 1,320.

In Richland Parish, Kennedy carried 71 percent with 4,771 votes while Chambers had 14 percent with 935 votes, Mixon had eight percent with 566 votes and Graham had two percent with 120 votes. Coming in at one percent were Mendoza with 73 votes, Steib with 69, Billiot with 50 and Rodriguez with 47. Taking less than one percent of the vote were McMorris with 31 votes, Olson with 17, John with 15, Wenn with 15 and Sigler with 10.

CA No. 1 which would have modified the maximum amount of monies in certain state funds that may be invested in equities failed by 64 percent with 847,577 votes against it and 474,607 votes for it.

In Richland Parish, it failed by 73 percent with 4,597 people for it and 1,717 against.

CA No. 2 which expanded property tax exemptions for homestead exemption property for veterans with disabilities passed by 73 percent with 972,004 votes for it and 361,091 against it.

In Richland Parish, it passed by 66 percent with 4,206 people for it and 2,147 against.

CA No. 3 which would have allowed classified civil service employees to support election of family members to public office failed by 67 percent with 899,285 people against it and 434,113 people for it.

In Richland Parish, it failed by 63 percent with 3,973 people against it and 2,330 for it.

CA No. 4 which authorizes a political subdivision to waive charges for water under certain circumstances passed by 75 percent with 993,383 votes for it and 332,064 against it.

In Richland Parish, it passed by 67 percent with 4,239 people for it and 2,070 against.

CA No. 5 which would have provided relative to property tax millage rate adjustments and maximum authorized millage rates failed by 57 percent with 739,362 people against it and 553,713 for it.

In Richland Parish, it failed by 64 percent with 3,966 against it and 2,239 for it.

CA No. 6 which limits the increase in assessed value of certain property following reappraisal in Orleans Parish failed with 642,462 votes against it and 635,559 for it.

In Richland Parish, it failed by 67 percent with 4,107 people against it and 2,006 people for it.

CA No. 7 which would have provided relative to the prohibition of involuntary servitude and administration of criminal justice failed by 61 percent with 790,133 people against it and 508,324 for it.

In Richland Parish, it failed by 67 percent with 4,151 people against it and 2,072 for it.

CA No. 8 which removes the requirement of annual certification of income for certain eligible disabled homeowners passed by 55 percent with 77,037 votes for it and 593,317 against it.

In Richland Parish, it failed by 52 percent with 3,277 people against it and 2,982 people for it.