Henry Whitehorn (left) John Nickelson (right)
Turnout for the first day of early voting was the highest in Caddo Parish and the driving force isn’t the presidential primary, it’s the highly contested sheriff’s race. Political analyst Scott Hughes said there was a one-vote margin between Democrat Henry Whitehorn and Republican John Nickelson last November and after two appeals, the courts ruled for another run-off election.
“So now we are running that off here in March, and it has high interest. We’re seeing a high turnout already with the mail-in ballots and even one day with the statistics of early voting,” said Hughes.
And while you’d expect plenty of mudslinging with such a close race, Hughes said so far, it’s been more of a get-out-the-vote effort driving turnout.
“Not so much attack your opponent, I think the lines are drawn, people know who they are voting for it’s just they’ve got to get out and vote or show up on the 23rd and vote in person,” said Hughes.
Hughes said another noteworthy item in this race is that traditionally Democrats tend to vote early or by mail compared to Republicans who tend to cast their ballot on election day…
“But we are seeing increased Republican turnout early. That’s probably the most interesting thing is the number of Republican voters who are coming out voting by mail or early, something you don’t normally see with Republican voters,” said Hughes.
Hughes said the one-vote margin in the November 2023 sheriff’s election was not only historic in Louisiana, but he believes it’s the largest one-vote margin in the country with more than 40,000 votes cast.
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