Primary voter turnout here was 45.9%

Just less than 46% of St. Mary Parish’s registered voters cast ballots in the Oct. 12 primary, according to figures from the secretary of state and the St. Mary Registrar of Voters Office.
The registrar’s office said 15,098 St. Mary people voted in the primary, or 45.94% of the parish’s 32,865 registered voters.
The turnout for registered Republicans was 57.48%, for Democrats 48.61% and for other parties 30.34%.
The primary included high-profile races at both the state and parish levels. Incumbent Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards qualified for a runoff against Republican challenger Eddie Rispone.
Edwards won 40% of the St. Mary vote. Rispone got 35%, and fellow Republican Ralph Abraham got 22%.
In St. Mary, Sheriff Blaise Smith won outright reelection with 55%.
The voting isn’t over yet. The runoffs are set for Nov. 16.
Early voting will be 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Nov. 2-9, excluding Sunday. St. Mary people can vote early at the Parish Courthouse in Franklin or the Registrar of Voters Office in Morgan City.
On the ballot:
—The governor runoff between Edwards and Rispone.
—The runoff for secretary of state involving incumbent Kyle Ardoin and “Gwen” Collins-Greenup.
—The runoff to see who will follow state Rep. Sam Jones as House District 50 representative. Raymond Harris Jr. and Vincent J. St. Blanc III, both of Franklin, qualified for the runoff.
—The runoff for Parish Council District 3, pitting Rodney Olander and Peter Soprano, both of Franklin.
—The runoff for Parish Council At-Large District 10. The candidates there are Jeremy A. Chesteen of Patterson and Gwendolyn Landry Hidalgo of Bayou Vista.
Rispone is scheduled to be in Morgan City on Thursday for a meet-and-greet at the Atchafalaya Café.