SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Early voting numbers for the March 26 election are in, and for Caddo, Bossier, DeSoto and Webster Parishes, the numbers are surprisingly high, considering there are only two big races – a district judge race in the 26th Judicial District and a race for an open seat on 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals bench in a district that encompasses Caddo, DeSoto and Red River Parishes.
In Caddo Parish, a total of 6,328 voters turned out to vote early in an election, where the main event is a race between District Judges Erin Leigh Waddell Garrett and Craig Marcott, who are vying to jump up a rung to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, while the undercard features five property tax renewals that help fund the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office.
There’s also a proposition in Blanchard, population 3,107, to allow the mayor to appoint the police chief, and five alcohol-sales related propositions in Hosston, population 293.
Some 1,787 voters early-voted In DeSoto Parish, but in addition to the 2nd Circuit race between Garrett and Marcott, there are municipal races in the Mansfield, Stonewall and the Village of Longstreet.
Not a lot of interest in Red River Parish, however, where the Garrett/Marcotte race is the only race on the ballot. Only 171 people voted early.
But interest was high in Bossier Parish, where 4,421 people cast early ballots in an election that features two 26th Judicial District assistant district attorneys, “Allie” Aiello Stahl and Doug Stinson, going head-to-head for an open seat on the 26th JDC bench, but no parish-wide propositions on the undercard, though there is a Fire District No. 5 proposition renewal in northeast Bossier Parish.
In Webster Parish, 1,514 early voters cast early ballots, with the 26th JDC race between Stahl and Stinson headlining, along with an Evergreen Fire Protection District renewal that only affects one precinct and part of another can vote. In addition, residents of the Springhill Fire Protection District No. 11 will decide whether to replace at 2012 6.5 mill property tax that will expire in 2022 with a special tax of 10 mills that if approved will begin in 2022 and run through 2031.
Only 126 people voted in Claiborne Parish, but there are only two propositions on the ballot, and neither is parish-wide. The Evergreen Fire Protection District, which only affects one precinct in Claiborne Parish, is asking voters to approve a 10-mill tax renewal, and residents in the Homer School District No. 13 are asked to approve a 10-year renewal of an 11.96 mill tax.
