Jeremy Alford: Can hot local races drive Nov. 18 turnout?

While there’s a great deal of attention being focused on Louisiana’s remaining statewide runoffs for secretary of state, attorney general and treasurer, there are another 23 parish-wide elections worth keeping tabs on this month. 
On the Nov. 18 ballot there will be two dozen races for sheriff, six for parish president, two for assessor and three for clerk of court. 
Turnout, or voter participation, is expected to be between 15 percent and 18 percent of all registered voters statewide, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
That’s a dramatic downturn from four years ago, when the runoff turnout reached 51 percent.
With no race for governor atop the ballot this month, and the surviving statewide elections generating little interest from rank-and-file voters, parishwide races could be the trick to turning the tide on turnout. 
Voters in many of the parishes mentioned below will likely care more about their local races this month than they do the statewide ballot, which includes yet another set of constitutional amendments.
For starters, there are six open races for sheriff, and another six that feature incumbents.
Of those featuring incumbents, there are a lot of eyes on Washington and Winn parishes, where the challengers led in the primary and are continuing to build their campaigns.
(In Washington, Sheriff “Randy Country” Seal is facing a strong challenge from Jason Smith. In Winn, Sheriff Cranford Jordan Jr. has his hands full with challenger Josh McAllister.)
Here are the other contests for sheriff on the November ball:
— Caddo sheriff (open seat): John Nickelson vs. Henry L. Whitehorn
— Claiborne sheriff: Michael D. Allen vs. Sheriff Sam Dowies
— Jefferson Davis sheriff: Kyle Miers vs. Sheriff Ivy J. Woods
— LaSalle sheriff (open seat): “Scott” McLendon vs. “Lane” Windham
— Madison sheriff: Sheriff Sammie L. Byrd vs. Chad Ezell
— Natchitoches sheriff: Steven “Steve” Pezant vs. Sheriff Stuart Wright
— St. James sheriff (open seat): Sidney “Sid” Berthelot vs. Claude J. Louis Jr.
— Tangipahoa sheriff (open seat): “Chris” Gideon vs. Gerald D. Sticker
— Vermilion sheriff (open seat): Lance Broussard vs. Eddie Langlinais
— West Baton Rouge sheriff (open seat): “Jeff” Bergeron vs. Leo Fontenot
As for parish-wide administrative jobs, the race for Lafayette city-parish mayor-president is among the hottest in the state.
That’s where a political legacy, in the form of Monique Blanco Boulet, the daughter of late Gov. Kathleen Blanco, is challenging Mayor-President Josh Guillory.
Guillory led the field in the primary with 40 percent of the vote, but the anti-incumbent vote amounted to 60 percent, with Boulet carrying 34 percent and fellow challenger Jan Swift holding down 26 percent.
Here are the other key parish-wide races on the November ballot…
— Natchitoches parish president (open seat): Latorria S. Freeman vs. John D. Salter
— St. Bernard parish president (open seat): Wayne J. Landry vs. Louis Pomes
— St. Martin parish president (open seat): “Pete” Delcambre vs. Dean LeBlanc
— Terrebonne parish president (open seat): Jason Bergeron vs. Darrin Guidry
— Washington parish president (open seat): Ryan Seal vs. Rep. Malinda Brumfield White
— Bienville assessor (open seat): Tyler Nutt vs. Catherine Perritt
— Caddo assessor (open seat): Brett Frazier vs. Regina Webb 
— DeSoto clerk of court: Lisa Lobrano Burson vs. Clerk Jeremy M. Evans (This race has an interesting twist involving the incumbent, who was arrested last month.)
— St. Helena clerk of court (open seat): Toni Holland vs. Jeremy M. Williams
— St. John the Baptist clerk of court (open seat): Felicia Feist vs. Kent St. Amant
For more Louisiana political news, visit www. LaPolitics.com or follow Alford on Twitter @ LaPoliticsNow.