Filing for the November 8 election opened last Wednesday morning and a flurry of candidates came to the Clerk of Court’s office in the courthouse to officially declare their candidacies. The filing period ended late Friday afternoon.
While there are a number of offices on the ballot, of prime interest in Washington Parish are the races for seats on the Parish School Board.
In the first two days of filing, eight of nine incumbent school board members filed for re-election. All of the incumbent school board members who are running for re-election will face challengers in the November 8 election, with the exception of three. Bruce Brown in District 3, Kendall McKenzie in District 4, and Robert Boone in District 5 were automatically re-elected when filing closed Friday afternoon and they had no opposition.
In all, a total of 16 candidates filed for school board seats. This stands in contrast to the last school board election in 2018, when all of the incumbents were unopposed except in District 8. In District 8, then-incumbent Matthew Tate was challenged by Frankie Crosby, who went on to win the election.
The high interest in school board seats is not limited to Washington Parish. Nearby parishes, including St. Tammany, report a large number of candidates running in the November 8 election for school board.
Here are the 2022 Washington Parish school board filings:
•In District 1, which covers the Mount Hermon area and much of northwest Washington Parish, incumbent school board member Dan Slocum is retiring. Filing on Wednesday to replace him were Justin Brown, who is Chief of Police in Franklinton, and Keith Giles. Both are residents of Mount Hermon. On Thursday, Mount Hermon resident Ray Wuerzer also filed.
•In District 2 incumbent School Board President John Wyble filed Thursday morning for re-election. The district covers parts of Franklinton and surrounding areas. On Friday, David Thoeny also filed to run in District 2.
•In District 3, which covers Hackley and areas north of Franklinton, incumbent Bruce Brown was automatically re-elected along with incumbent Kendall McKenzie of District 4, which is based in the Pine area, and incumbent Robert Boone of District 5, which is based in the Varnado area.
•In District 6, which covers Enon and the surrounding area, incumbent Dewitt Perry filed for re-election Thursday morning. Later on Thursday, Scott Breland also filed for the District 6 school board seat.
•In District 7, which is in the general Franklinton area, incumbent Lee Alan McCain filed Thursday afternoon and on Friday Brynan Cooper and David Pettit filed as District 7 candidates.
•In District 8, which is also in the Franklinton area, incumbent Frankie Crosby will be opposed by challengers Justina Marie Hart, Sarah Burris, and Nikki Magee.
•And in District 9, which is in the Angie area, incumbent Lesley McKinley will face challenger Gwen Pigott.
In the event that no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the November 8 election, a run-off election is scheduled for December 10.
In addition to Washington Parish School Board, other offices on the November 8 ballot include:
•Members of the Bogalusa School Board
•Mayor and City Council in Bogalusa
•One Alderman in Angie
•United State Senator
•U.S. Congressman for the 5th District
2 judges on the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal were re-elected without opposition when no one filed to run against them. Judges Page McClendon and Beth Wolfe will not appear on the November 8 ballot due to their automatic re-election.
