Several local races, including House, Senate and sheriff positions, were decided Saturday night during the runoff election.
Democrat Sid Gautreaux beat Republican Greg Phares for sheriff with 52 percent of the vote. Phares had been acting sheriff for the past year after the previous sheriff retired in the middle of his term.
In a close race, state Rep. Yvonne Dorsey edged Baton Rouge attorney Jason DeCuir by 93 votes to take the Senate District 14 seat. There were 17,309 votes cast in the race, and both were Democrats. Dorsey was term-limited from seeking re-election for her previously held seat as the House District 67 representative.
“We’re elated,” said Patrick Wallace, Dorsey’s campaign manager. “It wasn’t as big as we wanted, but we’ll take it.”
In the House District 67 race that also pitted two Democrats against each other, Patricia Smith received 55 percent of the vote to beat Lori Burgess, a member of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council.
In another close race, Republican Steve Carter beat Republican Kyle Ardoin by 87 votes for the House District 68 seat which borders campus to the east.
—–Contact Ginger Gibson at [email protected]