By CHRISSY SMITH
Slidell news bureau
PEARL RIVER – Kathryn Walsh, who was a key player leading the Louisiana Legislator Auditor to investigate finances in the Town of Pearl River that led to longtime Mayor James Lavinge being indicted, was the leading vote getter among all 13 candidates in the Pearl River Aldermen election on Tuesday.
With five aldermen to be elected out of 13 on the ballot, Walsh led the balloting with 12 percent for 502 votes, and Bridgett Bennett came in second with 10 percent for 433 votes to secure seats for both of them. There will now be a runoff for the final three spots among David McGregor, Virgil Phillips, Lora Cutrer, Jacob de Bram, Betty Hodge, and Terry Crawford.
“It’s wonderful. I never expected this, and I just thank the people for all their trust and their votes,” Walsh said. “I’ll keep doing the job I have. We have a good group that is going forward, and it’s looking good for our future.”
Secretary of State Press Secretary Meg Casper said the formula for determining the Pearl River Aldermen runoff was probably the most complicated in the state of Louisiana.
“Double the number of offices left (3), multiply it by 2, which equals 6, so the next six highest vote getters go into runoff and they will have to get majority vote to win the final three spots,” Casper said.
McGregor received nine percent for 392 votes; Phillips won nine percent for 388 votes; Cutrer received nine percent for 377 votes; de Bram received eight percent for 355 votes; Hodge finished with seven percent for 291 votes; and Crawford received seven percent for 289 votes.
Walsh and Bennett won their seat outright because they received the two highest number of votes out of all the candidates.
Those who did not make the runoff are Ella Brakefield, Ken Cooper, Marie Crowe, and Jessica Gauley. Crowe, Walsh, and Brakefield were all running for re-election with Walsh being the only one to win.
The runoff election will be held on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014.