Acadia Parish Schools elections (2014)

2014 Acadia Parish Schools Elections
Primary Election Date November 4, 2014
General Election Date December 6, 2014
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
Louisiana Acadia Parish Schools Acadia Parish, Louisiana ballot measures Local ballot measures, Louisiana

Eight seats on the Acadia Parish School Board were up for election on November 4, 2014. Incumbents for all districts were up for re-election.

Louisiana elections use the Louisiana majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Half of the districts' races were contested. Jeffrey A. Cavell (I) lost to District 1 incumbent Israel Syria (D). District 3 incumbent Lynn Shamsie (D) did not run for re-election. Delo Hebert Jr. (D) and Dalton Newman (D) ran for the open seat, which Hebert won. David Lalande (R), the District 5 incumbent, defeated Blane Harmon (I). Candy Leger (I) lost to incumbent Gene I. Daigle (D) for the District 6 seat.

The following incumbents were elected without opposition at the close of the candidate filing period: Douglas J. LaCombe (I) in District 2, John Suire (R) in District 4, James Higginbotham, Jr. (I) in District 7 and Milton Simar (D) in District 8.

About the district

See also: Acadia Parish Schools, Louisiana

Acadia Parish Schools is located in Acadia Parish, La.

Acadia Parish Schools is located in southern Louisiana in Acadia Parish. Crowley is the seat of the parish government. Acadia Parish was home to approximately 62,204 residents according to 2013 estimates by the United States Census Bureau. In the 2011-2012 school year, Acadia Parish was the 20th-largest school district in Louisiana and served 9,657 students.

Demographics

Acadia Parish underperformed compared to the rest of Louisiana in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 9.9 percent of Acadia Parish residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 21.4 percent for Louisiana as a whole. The median household income for the parish was $38,686 compared to $44,673 statewide. The poverty rate in the parish was 19.1 percent compared to 18.7 percent for the entire state.

Racial Demographics, 2013
Race	Acadia Parish (%)	Louisiana (%)
White	79.7	63.5
Black or African American	18.3	32.4
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.3	0.8
Asian	0.4	1.7
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	>0.05	0.1
Two or More Races	1.3	1.5
Hispanic or Latino	2.0	4.7

Presidential Voting Pattern, Acadia Parish
Year	Democratic Vote	Republican Vote
2012	6,560	19,931
2008	7,028	19,229
2004	8,927	16,083
2000	8,892	13,814

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Voter and candidate information

The Acadia Parish School Board consists of eight partisan members who serve four-year terms. All of the members are elected concurrently by district. This means that regular school board elections are held every four years with all eight members being up for re-election at that time. Additionally, all members are elected by an area or district which they represent. Beginning with terms starting January 2015 or later, any member who, at the end of his or her term, has served more than two and one-half terms in the last three consecutive terms cannot be re-elected in the following term. However, they can be re-elected following the one term break.

The primary election was held on November 4, 2014. Louisiana does not conduct true primary elections. Instead, the state employs a majority-vote system. If a candidate receives a majority of the votes cast for an office, they win outright. If, however, no candidate reaches that threshold, a second round of voting is held between the top two vote-getters. Any registered voter can participate in both the first-round and second-round elections. Louisiana's election system is sometimes classified as a top-two, jungle, or blanket primary system. Ballotpedia refers to the state's election system as the Louisiana majority-vote system.

Beginning in 2026, Louisiana will use a semi-closed primary for congress, justice of the supreme court, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Public Service Commission. In these primaries, only unaffiliated voters and voters registered with a party may vote in that party's primary. For all other statewide offices—including state senator and representative—Louisiana will continue to use the majority-vote system.

School board candidates were required to file a Notice of Candidacy or Qualifying Form during the qualifying period which ran from August 20, 2014, to August 22, 2014. At the same time, they were required to either pay a qualifying fee of $115.00 or submit a nominating petition with 100 valid signatures.

To vote in the primary election, voters were required to register by October 6, 2014. Early voting ran between October 21, 2014, and October 28, 2014.

District 1

Israel Syria

• Incumbent

Jeffrey A. Cavell

District 2

Douglas J. LaCombe

• Incumbent

District 3

Delo Hebert Jr.
Dalton Newman

District 4

John Suire

• Incumbent

District 5

David Lalande

• Incumbent

Blane Harmon

District 6

Gene I. Daigle

• Incumbent

Candy Leger

District 7

James Higginbotham, Jr.

• Incumbent

District 8

Milton Simar

• Incumbent

Election results

District 1

Acadia Parish Schools, District 1 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Israel Syria Incumbent	58%	1,187
	Independent	Jeffrey A. Cavell	42%	860
Total Votes				2,047
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed November 24, 2014

District 2

Douglas J. LaCombe (I) was re-elected without opposition.

District 3

Acadia Parish Schools, District 3 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Delo Hebert Jr.	62%	1,331
	Democratic	Dalton Newman	38%	817
Total Votes				2,148
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed November 24, 2014

District 4

John Suire (R) was re-elected without opposition.

District 5

Acadia Parish Schools, District 5 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	David Lalande Incumbent	60.8%	1,708
	Independent	Blane Harmon	39.2%	1,102
Total Votes				2,810
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed November 24, 2014

District 6

Acadia Parish Schools, District 6 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Gene I. Daigle Incumbent	52.9%	1,395
	Independent	Candy Leger	47.1%	1,241
Total Votes				2,636
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed November 24, 2014

District 7

James Higginbotham Jr. (I) was re-elected without opposition.

District 8

Milton Simar (D) was re-elected without opposition.

Endorsements

None of the candidates received any official endorsements.

Campaign finance

Candidates received a total of $2,952.93 and spent a total of $2,124.53 as of October 29, 2014, according to the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program.

District 1

In the District 1 race, candidates received a total of $2,952.93 and spent a total of $2,124.53.

Candidate	Receipts	Disbursements	Cash on hand
Israel Syria	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Jeffrey A. Cavell	$2,952.93	$2,124.53	$828.40

District 2

In the District 2 race, no contributions or expenditures were reported.

District 3

In the District 3 race, no contributions or expenditures were reported.

District 4

In the District 4 race, no contributions or expenditures were reported.

District 5

In the District 5 race, no contributions or expenditures were reported.

District 6

In the District 6 race, no contributions or expenditures were reported.

District 7

In the District 7 race, no contributions or expenditures were reported.

District 8

In the District 8 race, no contributions or expenditures were reported.

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2013 Acadia Parish Schools, District 5 Special Election, unexpired term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican David Lalande 59.1% 640      Independent Blane Harmon 40.9% 443 Total Votes 1,083 Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed September 30, 2014 2010 Only elections for Districts 2, 3 and 6 went to election in 2010. The other three seats being retained by their incumbents. Israel Syria (D), John Suire (R), Roland Boudreaux (D), James Higginbotham, Jr. (D) and Milton Simar (D) retained the District 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8 seats, respectively. The District 2 contest went to a general election. General election District 2 Acadia Parish Schools, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Independent Douglas J. LaCombe 52.5% 1,264      Democratic Charlene Melancon 47.5% 1,144 Total Votes 2,408 Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed September 2, 2014 General election District 1 Israel Syria (D) was unopposed and retained his seat. District 2 Acadia Parish Schools, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Charlene Melancon 43.7% 817      Independent Douglas J. LaCombe 43.5% 813      Republican Timothy Villemarette 12.9% 241 Total Votes 1,871 Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed September 2, 2014 District 3 Acadia Parish Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Lynn Shamsie 50.4% 867      Independent Delo Hebert Jr. 49.6% 854 Total Votes 1,721 Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed September 2, 2014 District 4 John Suire (R) faced no opposition and retained his seat. District 5 Roland Boudreaux (D) was unopposed and kept his seat. District 6 Acadia Parish Schools, District 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Gene I. Daigle 54.3% 968      Independent Candy Leger 45.7% 814 Total Votes 1,782 Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed September 2, 2014 District 7 James Higginbotham, Jr. (D) was unopposed in his 2010 re-election bid. District 8 Milton Simar (D) retained his seat after facing no opposition in the election.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Acadia Parish Schools election in 2014.

Deadline	Event
August 20-22, 2014	Qualifying period for candidates
October 5, 2014	Campaign finance report due
October 6, 2014	Last day to register to vote in the primary election
October 21-28, 2014	Early voting period
October 25, 2014	Campaign finance report due
November 4, 2014	Election Day
December 14, 2014	Campaign finance report due

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Louisiana elections, 2014

This election shared the ballot with primary elections for the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, two down ballot state executive positions, 14 statewide ballot measures, judicial elections as well as local and municipal elections.

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Acadia + Parish + Schools + Louisiana"

Acadia Parish Schools News Feed

See also

• Louisiana
• Acadia Parish Schools, Louisiana
• Louisiana school board elections, 2014
• List of school board elections in 2014
• School board elections, 2014
• Acadia Parish, Louisiana ballot measures
• Local ballot measures, Louisiana

External links

Suggest a link

• Acadia Parish Schools
• Acadia Parish Clerk of Courts, Elections Department