Mamou Police Chief race headed to April 9th runoff

MAMOU — Residents in the Town of Mamou were voting to elect a new police chief Saturday night, but the tight March 5th election ended with the need for a runoff. While there were a total of six candidates that ran for the position in yesterday’s election, that number has now dwindled to two, Katina Richard and Brent Zackery.
The need for this election came after former police chief Robert McGee resigned from the position last October.
McGee’s resignation happened in the wake the U.S. Justice Department’s continued investigation into his supposed unlawful use of a taser on different inmates in his jail. In January, McGee was sentenced to one year and one day of hard labor.
The candidates that ran in the chief of police election were: Armond “A.J.” Benoit, Jr. (N), “Chris” Godeaux (R), Ricky James McGee (D), Charles Perdices (N), Katina Richard (D), and Brent Zackery (N).
When early voting results were released at 8:00 p.m. Zackery led the pack with 43.33 percent of the vote, while Richard was in second with 29.17 pct. Perdices was in third with 15.83 pct. of the total 120 early votes cast.
As the results from Mamou’s seven precincts began to roll in though, Richard’s pct. of the vote continued to grow, until she finally became the leader in the race.
Of the 41.6 pct. of Mamou voters who voted in Saturday’s election, Richard captured 319 votes, or 35.13 pct. Zackery, who was previously in the lead, fell to second but still earned himself a spot in the runoff. Zackery received 22.69 pct., or 206 votes.
Perdices remained in third place for the entirety of the race, and missed his chance in the runoff by two votes, finishing with a total of 204 votes, or 22.47 pct.
The candidate closest to Perdices was Benoit, who finished the race with 14.21 pct., or 129 votes. In fifth place, McGee and Godeaux tied with 2.75 pct. of the vote, or 25 total votes.
The runoff election to either elect Richard or Zackery as the Town of Mamou’s new Chief of Police will be held on April 9, 2016.