10 candidates qualify to run in District 40
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The race for House District 40 in St. Landry Parish has attracted a crowded field of 10 candidates.
Qualifying for the open legislative seat ended Friday, setting the stage for a brisk campaign before the Aug. 1 special election.
A runoff, if necessary, will be held Aug. 29.
Signed up for the race are George S. Bourgeois Jr., D-Opelousas; Allen Guillory, D-Lawtell; Bradford Jackson, no party-Opelousas; Ronald Lavergne, D-Sunset; Quincy Richard, D-Opelousas; Kelly J. Scott, D-Opelousas; Anna C. Simmons, D-Opelousas; Anthony James Soileau, no party-Washington; “Reggie” Tatum, D-Opelousas; and Ledricka Johnson Thierry, D-Opelousas.
Simmons is the former mayor of Opelousas, Richard is a member of the St. Landry Parish School Board, Guillory is a former St. Landry Parish police juror and Tatum sits on the Opelousas Board of Aldermen.
Jackson, Thierry and Scott have all made unsuccessful bids for either House District 40 or Senate District 24 in recent years.
The Aug. 1 special election is to fill the seat left vacant by Elbert Guillory, D-Opelousas, who won a May 1 election to replace Don Cravins Jr. in Senate District 24, which takes in most of St. Landry Parish and a portion of northern Lafayette Parish.
Cravins had stepped down as state senator to take a job with the U.S. Senate.
House District 40 and Senate District 24 have seen little stability since 2004, when longtime District 40 Rep. Charles Hudson, D-Opelousas, died in office.
Cravins won the District 40 seat in 2004 and then went on to win Senate District 24 in late 2006, replacing his father, Don Cravins Sr., who left the senate seat to become mayor of Opelousas.
Elbert Guillory won the House District 40 seat in early 2007, replacing Cravins Jr.
Elbert Guillory won election this year to replace Cravins Jr. in Senate District 24, thus opening up the District 40 seat once again.
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