Louisiana judicial elections, 2017

2017 Election Dates
Deadline to file candidacy
January 13, 2017
Primary election
March 25, 2017
General election
April 29, 2017

2017 State Judicial Elections
2018 » « 2016
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Louisiana holds several judicial elections per year. These elections are partisan.

The first 2017 judicial election was held in Louisiana on March 25, 2017. Three seats on the Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal were up for election; one of these three was elected at the filing deadline since there was only one candidate for it. The filing deadline to run in this election was Friday, January 13, 2017.

Louisiana elections use the Louisiana majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

HIGHLIGHTS

Three Republican candidates filed to run for a seat on the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal. This seat was previously occupied by James Genovese, who was elected in 2016 to the Louisiana Supreme Court. Candyce Perret and Susan Theall were the top two finishers, but neither received more than 50 percent of the vote; Perret defeated Theall in a general election on April 29.

One candidate filed to run for a seat on the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal. This seat was previously occupied by retired Judge Ernest Drake. Because only one candidate, Allison H. Penzato, filed to run for the seat, she was elected unopposed and did not appear on the ballot.

Two Democratic candidates filed to run for a seat on the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. This seat was previously occupied by retired Judge Dennis Bagneris. Paula Brown defeated Tiffany Gautier Chase for the seat at the primary; this seat did not appear on the general election (or runoff) ballot.

Two other seats were up for election on October 14, 2017. James M. Stephens (Independent) defeated Sharon Marchman (R) in the general election for Section 2A on the First District of the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal. Tiffany Gautier Chase (D) defeated Tracey Flemings-Davillier (D) in the general election for Division B on the First District of the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal.

Seats

Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal

First Circuit

Third District, Division C

This seat was formerly held by retired Judge Ernest Drake.

■ Allison H. Penzato (R) (Unopposed)

Because Penzato was the only candidate to file for this seat, she did not appear on the ballot and was considered elected after running unopposed.

Second Circuit

First District, Section 2A

This seat was formerly held by retired Judge John Larry Lolley.

■ Sharon Marchman (R)
■ James Stephens (I)

Third Circuit

Third District, Division B

This seat was formerly held by James Genovese, who was elected to the Louisiana Supreme Court in 2016.

■ Candyce Perret (R)
■ Susan Theall (R)
■ Vanessa Waguespack Anseman (R)

Fourth Circuit

First District, Division B

This seat was formerly held by Judge Paul Bonin, who was elected to a local judgeship in 2016.

■ Tiffany Gautier Chase (D)
■ Tracey Flemings-Davillier (D)

First District, Division C

This seat was formerly held by retired Judge Dennis Bagneris.

■ Paula Brown (D)
■ Tiffany Gautier Chase (D)

Election results

April 29 election results

Candyce Perret defeated Susan Theall in the general election for the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal, Third District, Division B.

Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal, Third District, Division B General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Candyce Perret	54.20%	26,681
	Republican	Susan Theall	45.80%	22,548
Total Votes				49,229
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State

March 25 election results

Third Circuit

Candyce Perret and Susan Theall defeated Vanessa Waguespack Anseman in the primary election for the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal, Third District, Division B.

Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal, Third District, Division B, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Candyce Perret	40.98%	16,599
	Republican	Susan Theall	36.66%	14,849
	Republican	Vanessa Waguespack Anseman	22.36%	9,058
Total Votes (530 of 530 reporting: 100%)				40,506
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State

Fourth Circuit

Paula Brown defeated Tiffany Gautier Chase in the election for the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, First District, Division C.

Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, First District, Division C, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Paula Brown	51.21%	13,427
	Democratic	Tiffany Gautier Chase	48.79%	12,791
Total Votes (351 of 351 reporting: 100%)				26,218
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State

October 14 election results

Second Circuit

James M. Stephens (Independent) defeated Sharon Marchman (R) in the general election for Section 2A on the First District of the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal.

Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal, First District, Section 2A General Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Independent	James M. Stephens	51.55%	9,438
	Republican	Sharon Marchman	48.45%	8,870
Total Votes				18,308
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official election results," accessed November 28, 2017

Fourth Circuit

Tiffany Gautier Chase (D) defeated Tracey Flemings-Davillier (D) in the general election for Division B on the First District of the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal.

Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, First District, Division B General Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tiffany Gautier Chase	58.96%	43,426
	Democratic	Tracey Flemings-Davillier	41.04%	30,229
Total Votes				73,655
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Unofficial election results," accessed November 28, 2017

Selection

See also: Judicial selection in Louisiana

Primary election

Judges compete in a primary election against candidates of all parties--what is sometimes called a "jungle primary." If no candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote (a "majority vote"), the top two candidates run against each other in the general election. If a candidate does receive a majority vote in the primary, he or she is declared elected as an unopposed candidate and will not be listed on the general election ballot.

In the event that candidates are competing for more than one open seat on a court, the majority vote is decided by "dividing the total votes cast for all of the candidates by the number of offices to be filled [and] dividing the result so obtained by two," according to the Louisiana Secretary of State website. The SOS gives the following example:

1040 total votes cast ÷ 3 offices to be filled ＝ 346.6

346.6 ÷ 2 ＝ 173.3

In the above example, 174 votes are necessary to win for each of the 3 offices.

General election

A general election is won by obtaining the highest number of votes. In the case of races with two or more open seats, the two or more candidates with the highest votes are declared the winners. If there is a tie, an additional election will be scheduled for the third Saturday after the announcement of the election results.

Becoming a candidate

Qualifications

To qualify for an election, a candidate must meet the individual requirements for the office he or she seeks. To view these specific requirements—which pertain to law experience, length of residency and age—visit Ballotpedia's Louisiana judicial selection page.

Declaration of candidacy

Candidates must submit a notice of candidacy form to the Louisiana Secretary of State's Office. On this form, the candidate indicates that he or she:

• is a registered voter;
• is not currently under an order of imprisonment for conviction of a felony;
• has filed federal and state income tax returns each of the last five years, or filed an extension (or was not required to do so);
• agrees to the state's campaign finance requirements;
• does not owe any outstanding fines, fees or penalties pursuant to the Code of Governmental Ethics; and
• is knowledgeable of governmental ethics offenses.

Fees and nominating petitions

Candidates are required to either pay a fee (varying by judgeship; see the Louisiana judicial elections page) or file a nominating petition with a required number of signatures. An additional State Central Committee fee is collected from each Republican and Democratic candidate.

Local trial court elections

See also: Louisiana local trial court judicial elections, 2017

Louisiana held partisan elections for local judicial offices in 2017. A primary election was held on March 25, 2017, and a general election was scheduled for April 29, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was January 13, 2017.

State profile

Demographic data for Louisiana
	Louisiana	U.S.
Total population:	4,668,960	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	43,204	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	62.8%	73.6%
Black/African American:	32.1%	12.6%
Asian:	1.7%	5.1%
Native American:	0.6%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	1.8%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	4.7%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	83.4%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	22.5%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$45,047	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	23.3%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Louisiana. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Louisiana

Louisiana voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

More Louisiana coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Louisiana
• United States congressional delegations from Louisiana
• Public policy in Louisiana
• Endorsers in Louisiana
• Louisiana fact checks
• More...

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Louisiana supreme court' OR 'Louisiana court election' OR 'Louisiana elections 2017'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Louisiana judicial elections, 2017 - Google News

See also

Louisiana	Judicial Selection	More Courts
Courts in Louisiana Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal Louisiana Supreme Court	Elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 Gubernatorial appointments Judicial selection in Louisiana	Federal courts State courts Local courts

External links

Suggest a link

• Louisiana Judicial Branch

Footnotes

Louisiana courts

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Federal courts:

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, Western District of Louisiana • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, Western District of Louisiana

State courts:

Louisiana Supreme Court • Louisiana Courts of Appeal • Louisiana District Courts • Louisiana City Courts • Louisiana Family Courts • Louisiana Justice of the Peace Courts • Louisiana Juvenile Courts • Louisiana Mayor’s Courts • Louisiana Municipal Courts • Louisiana Parish Courts • Louisiana Traffic Courts

State resources:

Courts in Louisiana • Louisiana judicial elections • Judicial selection in Louisiana