Mark Wood re-elected as Rapides Parish sheriff, defeating Kris Cloessner
Rapides Parish Sheriff Mark Wood won re-election Saturday night, again defeating challenger Kris Cloessner.
Wood won his second term by getting 58% of the vote, compared to Cloessner's 42%. Wood had 17,872 votes, while Cloessner had 12,760 votes, with all 113 precincts reporting.
All results from Saturday's elections are complete but unofficial.
Cloessner was a major in the sheriff's narcotics division until 2019 when he left to run for sheriff as William Earl Hilton retired. The two beat out other challengers and faced off in a run-off that Wood won.
On Saturday night, as in 2019, Wood took the lead as early voting results were released and never relinquished it.
Voter turnout was low in Rapides, as well as across the state. Just 37.9% of registered voters showed up to the polls for the sheriff's race, according to unofficial figures from the Louisiana Secretary of State.
The race with the highest turnout was a constable race in the Justice of the Peace Ward 5, 2nd Justice Court, which incumbent Rusty Miller won. Even then, turnout was only 53.4% of registered voters.
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The closest race of the night was a Rapides Parish Police Jury contest. Joe Bishop was re-elected to his District B seat by just three votes, getting 1,648 votes to challenger Randy Wiggins' 1,645 votes.
Other police juror race results in Rapides Parish:
Craig Smith won re-election in District C, getting 70%, or 2,938 votes. His challenger, Alex Robertson, received 30%, or 1,288 votes.
In District E, Danny Bordelon and Travis Herrington will meet in the Nov. 18 runoff. Bordelon received 40% of the vote, or 1,666 votes, while Herrington got 31%, or 1,309 votes. Third-place finisher Joey Short received 1,181 votes, or 28%.
Incumbent Ollie Overton Jr. was re-elected in District F. Overton received 1,665 votes, or 64%, to challenger Clarence Reed's 946 votes, or 36%.
In District H, Parrish Giles won over David Johnson. Giles got 2,696 votes, or 61%, while Johnson got 1,759 votes, or 39%.
In state legislative races, incumbent District 26 Rep. Ed Larvadain III beat two challengers to be re-elected. Larvadain received 4,224 votes, or 62%. His challengers, Rapides Parish School Board member Sandra Franklin and Alexandria City Council member Reddex Washington, got 20%, or 1,388 votes, and 18%, or 1,256 votes, respectively.
Turnout in that race was only 26.7% of registered voters.
In District 25, voters elected Jason Dewitt. He received 4,737 votes, or 58%, compared to Trish Leleux, who got 3,479 votes, or 42%.
And, lastly, all five tax renewals or rededications — two for fire protection and three for roads — were passed by voters.
Early voting for the Nov. 18 election will be Nov. 3-11. Early voting will be held at the Rapides Parish Courthouse, 701 Murray St. in downtown Alexandria, and at Kees Park Community Center, 2450 La. Highway 28 East in Pineville.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Rapides Sheriff Mark Wood wins 2nd term, again defeating Cloessner
