On December 6, Randy Fontenot, a registered member of the Constitution Party, defeated his Democratic opponent, in the race for Chief of Police for the City of Eunice. Here are the returns. Scroll down until you see “Chief of Police – City of Eunice”. Because the Constitution Party is not ballot-qualified in Louisiana, Fontenot had no label on the ballot. In the election returns he is designated as an “other” candidate, but that word does not appear on the ballot.
The margin was 59.7% – 40.3%. This outcome was not too surprising, because on November 4, Fontenot had polled 40% in a three-way race, ahead of the second place candidate, who had only polled 23%.
If the Constitution Party increases its registration in Louisiana to at least 1,000, and it then pays a fee of $1,000, it will become a qualified party in Louisiana. As of last month it had 185 registrants.
Despite my pestering the Constitution(al) Party about the correct usage of its name, I do congratulate them on this victory. Using this Office of Chief of Police, Mr. Fontenot could become the “Sheriff Arpaio” of Eunice, Louisiana. This would give the party much needed publicity and then be able to persuade some 815 more Louisianans to become members of the Party.
One of the reasons they don’t have but 185 registrants, is because the word “Constitution” – and actually the word “Constitutional” – is not a commonly used generic name for a political party. But time and education could change this – especially if the Constitution(al) Party will over the Christian voters who will in time leave the Republican Party as the GOP becomes more secular.
Again, congratulations to Mr. Fontenot.
Are you sure that “O” or “Other” did not appear on the ballot?
His otherness is indicated on the sample ballot on the SOS website.
I have an actual recent sample ballot from Louisiana. The “sample ballot” shown on the Louisiana Secretary of State’s web page is not a true sample ballot; it is more of a list of candidates. It is not a pictorial depiction of a ballot.
Louisiana prints “No party” on the ballot for candidates who are not registered in any party at all. But if the candidate is registered into an unqualified party (even if it is “Independent Party”) the candidate gets no label at all, unless the candidate is running for President.