By CHRISSY SMITH
Slidell news bureau
PEARL RIVER – David McQueen has won the election to take over as the first new mayor of Pearl River since 1991.
McQueen won Saturday’s runoff election against Clay Harper to replace indicted Pearl River Mayor James Lavigne. McQueen led the balloting with 53 percent for 515 votes, and Harper came in second with 47 percent for 454 votes.
In the primary, Harper finished first with 384 votes for 38 percent, while McQueen was in second with 311 votes for 31 percent. Heading into the runoff, both candidates were vying for 268 votes that went to Lavigne, and another 51 votes that went to fourth place finisher Claud Stucke.
Lavigne saw his stint as mayor in Pearl River come to an end after an investigation into town finances by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor led to the mayor presently facing criminal charges for misusing town money.
McQueen has been a Town Alderman for 28 years and said he believes he was the best candidate because of his record of coalition building with other public officials and business leaders.
“I am happy with the outcome, and I’m glad the campaigning is over. I’m looking forward to getting started the first of the year. I told everyone it was going to be a close race because I had 70 votes to make up,” McQueen said.
“The runoff liked to whip me, but it was worth it. It was a relief Saturday night, and I had a lot of good people helping me.”
He said he is pleased with how the other Pearl River elections turned out as well.
“I feel like we have a good group of people elected as aldermen. I feel like we are going to work together well, and we have a lot of administration problems we need to fix, but I think we can straighten our problems out and get on the right path pretty quickly. It’s not going to happen in one day, but I’m looking forward to us all working together.
Harper conceded he wants the best for McQueen.
“This has been a life-changing experience for me,” Harper said. “I am grateful to all my supporters, and will continue to focus on doing what I can to make my hometown a better place. The support I have gathered during my campaign is overwhelming, and I’m thankful to everyone who gave me their votes, their good wishes and their prayers. I wish David McQueen the best as he becomes mayor of our great town.”