Two late qualifiers on Friday brings to ten the number of entrants in this fall’s election for the Dist. 40 state representative seat. Candidates include some familiar faces from past election cycles in the district, which comprises a north-south strip of eastern St. Landry Parish that includes the cities of Opelousas, Grand Coteau and Washington. The district went unrepresented in the legislative session that ended Thursday; former Dist. 40 Rep. Elbert Guillory abandoned the post following his election in April to the state Senate Dist. 24 seat.
On Friday, the deadline to qualify, Kelly J. Scott and Reggie Tatum joined the contest. Scott ran unsuccessfully last spring for the Dist. 24 seat now occupied by Guillory. Tatum is Opelousas’ city council member for Dist. D.
Also qualifying for the Oct. 17 primary are George Bourgeois, Allen Guillory, Bradford Jackson, Ronald Lavergne, Quincy Richard, Anna Simmons, Anthony Soileau and Ledricka Johnson Thierry. Jackson and Thierry both ran unsuccessfully for the Dist. 40 seat. Simmons is the former mayor of Opelousas.
A Nov. 14 runoff is anticipated between the top two vote-getters in the primary.