Washington Parish voters spoke loudly Saturday, defeating two incumbent elected officials and bringing three new faces to the parish leadership team.
Defeated were longtime Sheriff Randy Seal and Malinda White. White is in her second term as 75th District State Representative and she was seeking the office of Parish President, but she lost badly in Saturday’s run-off to Ryan Seal.
Randy Seal has been Sheriff since July 1, 2012 and before that he served three full terms and one partial term as Parish Assessor --- altogether he had a quarter of a century in parish elective office when he was defeated Saturday. He will continue to serve as Sheriff until June 30, 2024.
Jason Smith, a Marine veteran and a Mount Hermon cattle rancher, defeated Randy Seal handily in the Sheriff’s run-off Saturday, collecting 60% of the vote.
In the run-off for Parish President, Ryan Seal had 59% of the vote compared to White’s 41%. Ryan Seal will succeed the retiring Richard Thomas, who has served as Parish President since first being elected in 2007.
In another race, District 6 Parish Councilman Reginald McMasters was re-elected in the run-off, with 54% of the vote compared to Dwayne Magee’s 46%.
In the race to succeed Malinda White as 75th District State Representative, John Wyble scored a landslide victory over Kelvin May, 79% to 30%,
Also on Saturday, voters in Fire District 9 easily approved the renewal of two tax propositions, with 62% of the district’s voters saying yes and 38% saying no.
Turnout in the run-off election was about 41% in all of the races except in Parish Council District 6, where turnout was 39%.
In terms of actual votes, here are the numbers
SHERIFF
Jason Smith 7,126
Randy Seal 4,697
PARISH PRESIDENT
Ryan Seal 6,883
Malinda White 4,752
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
John Wyble 8,233
Kelvin May 3,491
DISTRICT 6 PARISH COUNCIL
Reginald McMasters 851
Dwayne Magee 737
