By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – There might not have been any incredible shockers after last week’s qualifying for the October 14 primary election, but there certainly were some surprises.
It will be a busy election day on that Saturday with all St. Tammany positions on the ballot, along with all state offices up for grabs, including the governor’s race that has three St. Tammany Parish residents qualified to run among the huge 16-person field.
In St. Tammany, competitive elections are seen for parish president, sheriff, clerk of court and a host of Louisiana Legislature positions, while the St. Tammany Parish Council races are expected to be as intense as ever with a huge spotlight on every seat due to the controversial library situation. Five incumbent council members elected to not run again and some political experts believe it was affected in some ways by the library situation. (See separate story on page 1 about Parish Council races.)
Among a few very fortunate candidates there won’t have to be an election since they qualified and won office with no opposition.
Dr. Christopher Tape will become the new coroner after incumbent Dr. Charles Preston elected not to run, and nobody signed up to run against Tape. He is currently the Chief Forensic Pathologist at the department.
That is also the case for parish assessor where Louis Fitzmorris had no opposition and will return for his fourth term.
But that was certainly not the case when it came to elections for the Louisiana Legislature. In St. Tammany, only District 11 Senator Patrick McMath had no opposition and will return to office without a campaign needed.
In the District 1 Senate race where Slidell’s Sharon Hewitt decided not to seek a third term, but has entered the governor’s race, two incumbent state representatives have teed it up in what already shapes up like a super competitive race.
Bob Owen and Ray Garofalo are the only two qualifiers for that seat and have already turned up the intensity in mailouts and local advertising.
The District 90 race for House of Representatives had incumbent Mary DuBuisson qualifying on the final day against Slidell attorney Brian Glorioso and Heide Alejandro-Smith.
Glorioso has been advertising heavily for months and seen at numerous public business meetings and non-profit fundraisers, seeking his first time in the Legislature against DuBuisson, who is a former Slidell businesswoman. DuBuisson found herself heavily criticized in the middle of the library controversy earlier this year when a bill to give the Parish Council more authority to fire Library Board members was considered. DuBuisson served on that House Committee and the bill was defeated there.
Smith touts herself as an Asian Libertarian, while Glorioso and DuBuisson are both Republicans.
One of the surprises during qualifying was to see Slidell pastor John Raymond return to another try for the Legislature. He is running for the District 104 position against New Orleans weatherman Jay Galle in the Lacombe to Mandeville seat.
Raymond was defeated by DuBuisson four years ago in an attempt for state office, while Galle is making his first try for Baton Rouge.
Another new face seeking a legislative position for the first time is Stephanie Berault in District 76, who like Glorioso, has been out campaigning for many months, waiting to see if anyone else would challenge her.
Unfortunately for her, qualifying showed one opponent sign up to take her on as Shawn Jones registered for the race, although he is a relative unknown in the area political circles and hasn’t been seen much at local events.
In Pearl River, Buffie Singletary, a Republican, was another new entry into the District 74 House of Representatives race. She will face two challengers in Lou Dutel from Bush and Peter Egan from Covington, both Republicans.
Two judgeships are open on the 22nd Judicial District Court, with two candidates qualifying for the Division ‘A’ and Division ‘B’ races.
In Division ‘A,’ longtime Slidell attorney Alan Black has signed up to take on Larry Frieman from Covington, while in Division ‘B’ there is a race between two Covington Republicans in Casey Allen and Tara Farris Zeller.
The lineup in the two top races for St. Tammany Parish had no surprises, with candidates qualifying as expected after announcing as far back as last summer that they were going to run.
Top of the list is the expected close race for parish president, with incumbent Mike Cooper going for a second term and taking on Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer in the two-man election.
Cromer won his second term in office this past spring with no opposition, but then decided to run for parish president. Cooper is finishing his first term after previously serving as mayor of Covington.
The pair have had two candidate forums so far with no huge fireworks, however, with the election still two months away it is likely the heat will be turned up before it is all over.
A similar situation exists with the election for sheriff, where incumbent Randy Smith is seeking a third term, even though he promised voters eight years ago that he would only serve two terms—a point he has taken heat on.
Two challengers went after Smith at a recent public forum, with former Slidell Police Officer Tommy Williams and longtime police officer and military man John Gurba taking turns criticizing Smith for various issues.
Smith continues to run on the fact crime has been kept to a minimum in St. Tammany Parish and his office has a high rate of solving major crimes.
The only other election among major public positions is for clerk of court where two-time incumbent Melissa Henry is being challenged by former Assistant District Attorney Jessica Jenkins Brewster.