INDReporter

Whew: Mary Morrison beats ‘Coach Don’ for LPSB

In the lone runoff for the Lafayette Parish School Board, it was Mary Morrison who came out on top Saturday, handily defeating “Coach Don” Gagnard.

Morrison pulled 59.01 percent of the vote to Gagnard’s 40.99 percent.

Gagnard’s defeat came with a sigh of relief — at least from the more progressive minded of our fair city — after he was outed last month for a series of racist and homophobic rants posted on his Facebook page. Gagnard, as first reported by The IND, also has a history of poor treatment toward women, racking up three restraining orders from ex-girlfriends over the years.

Considering the record of misogyny and the online vitriol spewed by the former school system employee, it’s a bit disheartening to know that he still received nearly 2,000 votes from District 1 residents.

But, at least we can say the best candidate won Saturday.