Eddie Soileau was reelected as Evangeline Parish Sheriff for a third straight term after he received nearly 60 percent of the vote Saturday. (Gazette file photo)
By: ELIZABETH WEST
Associate Editor
Incumbent Eddie Soileau was reelected to a third term as Evangeline Parish Sheriff Saturday night after capturing nearly 60 percent of the parish wide vote.
Sheriff candidate Sidney “Joey” Peloquin, III’s confidence prior to the polls closing would have led you to believe the sheriff’s race would have been a much tighter one. When asked if he was nervous about the results, Peloquin answered, “No, I’m confident that I’m going to win.”
When the absentee voting results were released around 8:30 p.m., Soileau (D) was leading the pack with 64% of the vote while the closest candidate to Soileau at that time, Peloquin, carried 18 percent of the absentee vote. Darin K. Bordelon grabbed the third place slot with 15 percent and Anthony “Andy” Gaspard was in fourth place with 3 percent of absentee votes.
As the results from each precinct continued to roll in Soileau remained in the lead the entire time with Peloquin in a distant second place.
After receiving the results from all 56 precincts in Evangeline Parish, Soileau finished in first with 59.31 percent, Peloquin in second with 21.96 percent, Bordelon in third with 13.54 percent and Gaspard in fourth with 5.18 percent.
During an interview with KVPI after the results had been broadcast on the radio, Soileau said, “He didn’t really want to talk because he was feeling under the weather.”