Qualifying for 1st St. George City Elections Will Open Jan. 29-31; Election Set Mar. 29

Qualifying will be held Wednesday, Jan. 29 to Friday, Jan. 31 for candidates in the first municipal elections to be held for the City of St. George

Voters in the newly-incorporated city will go to the polls on Saturday, March 29 to elect the Mayor, Police Chief, and seven members of the St. George City Council.

Qualifying will be held at the office of Clerk of Court Doug Welborn at the downtown office at 222 St. Louis Street and at the Clerk’s office at 9050 Airline Hwy.

Last May, Gov. Jeff Landry appointed the city’s first officials — Mayor Dustin Yates, Police Chief Todd Morris, and five members of the City Council — Richie Edmonds and Patty Cook, At-Large; District 1 – Steve Monachello; District 2 – Ryan Heck, and District 3 – Max Himmel.

The new City Council will have seven members — two elected at-large citywide and five elected from five single-member districts.

All of the appointed members of the city government are expected to run with the exception of Ryan Heck.  

In addition, the two at-large members of the City Council — Richie Edmonds and Patty Cook — have said they intend to seek district seats.

On Tuesday, Jan. 28, Lionel Rainey of LR3 Consulting and Public Relations sent out a release saying the following candidates would be qualifying to run Wednesday morning, Jan. 29:

Mayor – Dustin Yates*

Police Chief – Todd Morris*

Council Members

At-Large – David Dellucci and Joel Davis (two to be elected)

District 1 – Richie Edmonds*

District 2 – Steve Monachello*

District 3 – Max Himmel*

District 4 – Patty Cook*

District 5 – Andrew Murrell

*Indicates the interim official appointed by the governor.

One of the two incorporators of St. George, Chris Rials, had considered running for Mayor but recently announced he will not seek election as Mayor or for any other position.

Also on the March 29 ballot in St. George will be a proposition on whether to adopt the proposed St. George City Charter.

Two St. George leaders — City Council member Patty Cook and Chris Rials — give the pros and cons on the proposed City Charter in this edition of the St. George Leader (see Pages 22-23).

If a runoff is required as a result of the March 29 election, it will be held on Saturday, May 3.  All voters, regardless of party affiliation, will able to vote for all offices on the ballot in both elections.