Cassidy Defeats Landrieu; Airport Tax Approved; Pope To City Marshal
Three-term U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu was defeated overwhelmingly Saturday as voters across Louisiana elected U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy to the upper chamber of Congress.
Cassidy successfully tied Landrieu to U.S. President Barack Obama, who is extremely unpopular in the state, and he survived late criticism from Landrieu over discrepancies with his time sheets at Louisiana State University.
Landrieu was the last statewide elected Democrat in Louisiana.
Local Races
City Marshal
In one of the most hotly contested races in recent political memory, voters elected Brian Pope to the Lafayette City Marshal's Office. Pope received 18,416 votes--or 52 percent--while his challenger Kip Judice received 16,782 votes--or 48 percent.
Pope served in the Marshal's office for decades before quietly resigning before the election. Judice was a former captain in the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office.
Both candidates faced scrutiny from the media and from voters after it was revealed Judice was disciplined twice for driving his sheriff's office vehicle after drinking alcohol, while it was learned Pope failed to file campaign finance reports on time.
Former city marshal "Nickey" Picard failed to make the runoff.
Lafayette Regional Airport One-Cent Sales Tax
Lafayette Parish voters overwhelmingly approved a one-cent sales tax to fund improvements to Lafayette Regional Airport.
The sales tax, which will begin collection in April 2015 and end in November 2015, will fund construction of a brand new terminal, which will feature five boarding gates. The current terminal has only two boarding gates.
Other improvements will include more efficient TSA screening, as well as more amenities on the secured side of the terminal.
Fifty-nine percent of residents voted for the sales tax. Fourty-one percent voted against.
Lafayette Parish School Board, District 1
Mary Morrison will begin in January her term as the new school board member representing District 1 on the Lafayette Parish School Board.
Morrison's opponent, Don Gagnard, came under fire after it was revealed he made several derogatory comments on Facebook regarding African Americans and homosexuals. Gagnard attempted to defend himself against the claims and ultimately ended up deleting his Facebook profile.
Morrison received 2,804 votes, while Gagnard got 1,984 votes.