Phares and Gautreaux appear headed for runoff

• By KIMBERLY VETTER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Oct 21, 2007 - Page: 1A

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East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff candidates Greg Phares and Sid Gautreaux are headed to a runoff based on Saturday‘s complete but unofficial returns.

Phares, a Republican, won 54,553 votes, or 46 percent of the vote, to 43,866 votes, or 37 percent, for Gautreaux, a Democrat, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

Turnout was 47 percent.

The runoff is slated for Nov. 17. That election will determine who will fill the remainder of Elmer Litchfield’s term, which ends June 30, and who will fill the following four-year term that begins July 1.

Phares, who was named sheriff in December after Litchfield resigned, said during a telephone interview from a party at Highland Porch that he is not surprised he is facing Gautreaux in a runoff.

But Phares said he is pleased by the support he received.

“I think that the vote is a credit to the job that the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office do every day,” he said. “I’m grateful to the voters for their confidence.”

Gautreaux, the former Baker police chief for 27 years, said during a telephone interview from Primo’s Steakhouse that the results say people are ready for a change.

“We knew there would be a runoff,” he said thanking voters for their support. “Now we have to buckle down.”

The other three candidates in the race were Democrats Dalton Honore and Mark Milligan and Republican Scott Thompson.

Honore, a former Sheriff’s deputy and legal investigator with the parish attorney’s office, finished third, drawing 13,092 votes, for 11 percent of the vote.

Milligan, a former Baton Rouge police officer, garnered 5,022 votes, or 4 percent of the vote. Thompson, a former reserve deputy, finished fifth, with 3,204 votes, or 3 percent.

All five candidates attended at least a half a dozen forums during the campaign, answering questions posed by residents and promoting their platforms.