A Democrat was elected Caddo Parish sheriff by six percentage points last weekend in a contest that was closely watched because an appeals court ordered a new election after finding multiple questionable votes were cast in a razor-thin election last fall.
Henry Whitehorn won Saturday’s election, becoming the parish’s first African-American sheriff, by a margin of 53% to 47% over Republican John Nickelson. Last fall, Whitehorn won the race by a single vote, a margin that was also confirmed in a recount.
But Nickelson challenged the election results in a trial court. In turn, the Second Circuit Court of Appeal found that multiple votes were questionable, two people voted twice and five or more mail-in ballots were counted in error. The appeals court ordered a rematch between the two candidates, and the Louisiana Supreme Court declined to take up the issue.
Louisiana Democratic Party Chairwoman Katie Bernhardt said the state party built a strong get-out-the-vote effort in support of Whitehorn’s candidacy.
“We doubled down and took a Democratic stronghold back…” Bernhardt said in a statement emailed to the Louisiana Record. “Now, in this historic race where we elected the first Black sheriff not once, not twice, but three times, and we will see it again in November when we send a Democrat to Congress in the Sixth Congressional District.”
That congressional seat, which is currently held by Republican Garret Graves, became a Black-majority district as a result of legislation passed by the state lawmakers and signed into law this year by Gov. Jeff Landry. The redistricting, which was the result of years of litigation, makes the seat more competitive, and Democrat Cleo Fields is vying for the office this fall.
The state Democratic Party also pointed out that a Democrat, James Jefferson, won Shreveport’s city marshal election last year.
“The people of Caddo are better served by these wins – and our nation will be too,” Bernhardt said. “The whole country should take note. We just showed the path to a Democratic majority in Congress, which runs right through the state of Louisiana, starting in Caddo Parish.”
The long and thin Sixth District extends from Caddo Parish in the northwestern part of the state into central Louisiana.
Nickelson, an attorney, a former member of the Shreveport City Council and past president of the Shreveport Bar Foundation, was endorsed by the Republican Party of Louisiana. But he was criticized during the campaign for a lack of law enforcement experience. Whitehorn is a former Shreveport police chief and a retired member of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Unofficial results from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office showed Whitehorn garnered 34,752 votes to Nickelson’s 30,487 votes. The unofficial turnout was 42.3%.
Bernhardt said voters in the parish had overcome voter suppression tactics by electing Whitehorn and that such efforts to disenfranchise voters would not be tolerated.
“This is truly a testimony to his character and perseverance,” she said. “Tonight (March 23) we celebrate a strong Democratic victory and more Democratic victories to come in 2024 and beyond.”
In a court decision in December, a retired Louisiana Supreme Court justice, E. Joseph Bleich, concluded that 11 illegal votes were cast and counted in the initial sheriff’s race and that it was not possible to determine the voters’ true wishes without a new special election.