Three Clear Wins; Four Seats Remain
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
(Bobby Ardoin Photo)
Four St. Landry Parish School Board seats remain contested after parishwide primary votes were counted at the Clerk of Court annex building on a rainy Tuesday night.
Despite that remaining uncertainty, three other candidates managed to register overwhelming victories as the Board will experience a major January remake over the next four years.
In the Opelousas area, Joyce Haynes, the 2026 vice-president and two-time board president, was convincingly reelected over Don DeJean..
Haynes’ 1,112 vote total nearly doubled the 650 attributed to DeJean.
Three other Board races were similarly decided, including two involving Eunice-area representation,
Eunice Votes
The Eunice-area Board elections featured decisive first-term victories for Kevin Johnwell and Paul Trosclair.
Johnwell easily defeated Timmakah Hardy who will serve one term representing District 12..
Johnwell received 64.6 percent or 982 of the ballots. Hardy obtained 537 votes.
Trosclair, a former Eunice High athletic director and head football coach, won a decisive District 13 first-term election bid over Crystal Rougeau Wiley.
Trosclair obtained 1,256 or 78.84 percent of the District 13 election votes. Wiley received 337.
Cassimere Win
Angela Cassimere, currently the School District Director of Curriculum and wife of outgoing board member Raymond Cassimere, scored a dominant victory over two other opponents in the District 4 race.
Cassimere received more votes (1,513) than her two opponents combined. Brenda Frank recorded 443 votes while Johnnie Bob Fontenot had 368.
Board Makeup
Current board members Bianca Vedell (District 5) Robert Gautreaux (District 7) and Tiffany Nolan (District 11) qualified and were unopposed.
District 6 board member Renee Aymond chose not to run for reelection.
Aymond will be replaced by Sabrina Evans Ardoin, who like District 8 qualifier Rose Marcel was not contested in the primary election.
Term-limited board members Anthony Standberry, Raymond Cassimere, board president Randy Wagley, Kyle Boss, Hazel Sias and Mary Ellen Donatto end their representation in December,
Undecided Races
District 1: Rachel Richard narrowly lost a bid that would have given her an outright win in this election district that includes the western portion of Opelousas and a rural area that includes Lawtell and Prairie Ronde.
Richard had 49.3 percent of the votes, but will face Richard Lewis III in the December runoff. Lewis had 34 percent and Maurice Johnson Walker polled 16.61 percent.
District 3: Interim incumbent Janice Henry received 42.7 percent of the votes, but she will face Keith Scott (31.46 percent) in the runoff.
Henry defeated Scott in a Board vote earlier this year following the death of longtime District 3 representative Milton Ambres.
District 9: This race, which includes a large south Opelousas and Sunset-area district, was one of the most contested of the Tuesday Board races.
Former board member Greg Ardoin will face Derrick Comeaux in a December District 9 race.
Ardoin led the four-opponent field, receiving 36.26 percent of the votes. Comeaux had 31.61 percent, while Phyliis Mason-Fisher, also an ex-board member, received 23.1 percent.
Latasha Benson Romar-Lee finished third with 227 or 9 percent of the votes.
District 10: This race for board representation in much of the center of Opelousas, was the closest among the eight Board races on Tuesday night.
Only four votes separated winner Elsie Semien and second-place finisher James Ronald Guillory.
Former board member Quincy Richard had 37 fewer votes than Guillory.
Semien, an ex-principal at two District schools, led with 34.22 percent over Guillory (33.98 percent). Richard received 540 or 31.8 percent of the votes.
