Voters will go to the polls across the metro area Saturday to decide the hotly-contested Jefferson Parish sheriff's race as well as races for mayor and city council in Kenner and Slidell and two judgeships.
The highest-profile race on the ballot is for Jefferson Parish sheriff, with interim Sheriff and former state Rep. Joe Lopinto facing veteran sheriff's office employee and spokesman John Fortunato, in the race to replace Newell Normand, who resigned last summer to take a position as talk show host with WWL Radio.
Voters in Kenner will elect a mayor and several city council members. Mayor Ben Zahn is seeking a full, four-year term in office. He was elected in 2016 to succeed Mike Yenni, when Yenni was elected Jefferson Parish President.
Slidell voters will elect a replacement for Mayor Freddy Drennan, who is term limited. There are also several city council races on the ballot.
Lafourche Parish voters will elect a new district attorney, following the resignation last November of Cam Morvant II after 15 years in the position.
There are two state House of Representatives seats on the ballot. In District 93, which includes parts of Orleans Parish, four candidates are running to replace Helena Moreno, who was elected to the New Orleans City Council last fall and takes office in May.
In Tangipahoa Parish, voters in House District 86 will choose between two candidates, Nicholas Muscarello Jr. and David Vial, who are vying to replace Rep. Chris Broadwater, who stepped down last year, saying he wanted to spend more time with family.
There are two judgeships on the ballot in Orleans Parish. One, for a seat on the state Court of Appeal 4th Circuit bench is to replace Judge Madeleine Landrieu, who stepped down to become dean of Loyola University School of Law. There is also a race for the Orleans Parish Civil District Court Div. A seat formerly held by Judge Tiffany Chase, who was elected to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal in October.
St. Tammany Parish voters will decide whether to renew two separate parishwide sales taxes, one for operations of the Parish Justice Center and courthouse and the other to run the parish jail. This will be the parish's third attempt to pass the tax.