A Gonzales judge was elected to a Ïã¸ÛÁùºÍ¿ª½±ÀúÊ·¼Ç¼-based state appellate court Friday after no one qualified to run against her on March 23.
Local voters, though, will have other contested races to consider at the polls March 23. These include the vacant District 8 seat on the East Ïã¸ÛÁùºÍ¿ª½±ÀúÊ·¼Ç¼ Parish School Board. Also on that ballot will be a series of races in the City of Baker, including the mayor, police chief, and four out of five City Council seats.
To see all those who qualified for the March 23 elections, . Qualifying occurred Wednesday through Friday.
Races for representatives of the Democratic and Republican parties are occurring March 23 in all 64 parishes in Louisiana.
Katherine Tess Stromberg, a Republican, is now a state appellate judge. She was the only candidate who paid the qualifying fee this week to replace Guy Holdridge to sit on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Ïã¸ÛÁùºÍ¿ª½±ÀúÊ·¼Ç¼.
Stromberg, who has served since 2015 as a district court judge in Gonzales, will now represent 1st District, Section 1, Division C on the state appellate court. The seat was created in 2015 and includes portions of Ascension, Assumption, Iberville, Pointe Coupee and West Ïã¸ÛÁùºÍ¿ª½±ÀúÊ·¼Ç¼ parishes.
Stromberg previously served as a hearing officer and judicial administrator for the 23rd Judicial District Court in Gonzales as well as working as a state ethics investigator. She is a daughter of longtime Gonzales City Attorney Ryland Percy.
Stromberg is only the second person to hold the Division C seat on the appellate court. Holdridge, also previously a district judge in Gonzales, was the first. after nearly nine years of serving on the 1st Circuit. Like Stromberg, Holdridge was elected without opposition when he first ran for the seat in 2014.
Stromberg will serve the final year of Holdridge’s term, through Dec. 31, 2024. She will need to go before voters again on Nov. 5, 2024, to gain a full 10-year term of her own.
The vacant District 8 seat on the East Ïã¸ÛÁùºÍ¿ª½±ÀúÊ·¼Ç¼ Parish School Board drew two candidates, Steve Crump and Emily Soulé. They are vying to complete the remainder of the term of Katie Kennison, who was elected last year but served only eight months before resigning. Kennison’s term ends Dec. 31, 2026.
Both Crump and Soulé have made their careers in churches.
Crump, who is running as No Party, spent 36 years as lead and senior minister at the Unitarian Church of Ïã¸ÛÁùºÍ¿ª½±ÀúÊ·¼Ç¼ before retiring in 2019. During his tenure, Crump was never shy about weighing in on the controversies of the day, but also worked to bridge differences among the local religious community.
Soulé, who is running as a Republican, .
Crump has no children of his own, while Soulé has three school-aged children.
Filling the District 8 seat temporarily is Emily Chatelain, who was appointed to the job in September, beating out three other applicants, including Crump. Chatelain is the founder of an after-school feeding program and founder of a company that consults with schools across the country on ways to improve their food programs. Chatelain opted not to qualify to run in the March 23 election.
The City of Baker, located just north of Ïã¸ÛÁùºÍ¿ª½±ÀúÊ·¼Ç¼, will have one of the busier election days on March 23.
Mayor Darnell Waites, who is seeking a third term, has drawn three opponents: City Councilwoman Brenda Jackson, former Councilwoman Doris Alexander and Denise Stevenson, a restaurant owner and activist in Baker.
Incumbent Police Chief Carl Dunn, who is also seeking a third term, has drawn one opponent, Willie Brooks III of Baker.
Of the five current members of the Baker City Council, only one, District 1’s Charles Vincent, escaped an opponent Friday and has been reelected without opposition.
Of the four contested races, incumbents Glenda Bryant, Rochelle Dunn and Robert Young drew opponents. Brenda Jackson’s decision to run for mayor left District 5 vacant; three candidates qualified to replace her.
