Acadiana saw near record numbers of people turning out to cast their votes for governor, along with important local races, including mayor-president and, for the first time in decades, a separate Lafayette city and parish council.

Incumbent City-Parish Councilwoman Liz Hebert has been elected to the Lafayette City Council, representing District 3, according to complete but unofficial results.

Sen. Bob Hensgens, R-Gueydan won re-election in District 26 over Democrat Jerry Gaspard.

State Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, was re-elected to a third term representing District 43 in the state House of Representatives. 

Incumbent state Rep. Jean-Paul Coussan won re-election to represent District 45 over challenger Rhonda Gleason, a Democrat. 

State Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, was elected to a second term in office when she defeated Paul “Polo” Carter, a Democrat, in the race for District 39 seat in the House of Representatives. 

Jonathan Goudeau and "Gus" Rantz are headed to a runoff in House District 31. The two Republican candidates will face off  Nov. 16  to succeed Nancy Landry, who resigned to work as chief of staff for Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin.

The Lafayette Parish School Board races were sealed without runoffs Saturday night, with incumbents Tommy Angelle and Tehmi Chassion clenching third terms, and three new board members added to the nine-person body. 

Once the polls close in Louisiana on Saturday night, results will begin to come in for statewide and Acadiana races in one of the busiest election days in years.

Drones are officially grounded Election Day, at least near voting locations.

Political newcomer Carlee Alm-LaBar, as late as Oct. 4, continued to raise more money for her campaign for Lafayette mayor-president than her four opponents.

Early voting in Lafayette Parish ended Saturday evening with 10,918 people casting ballots in person, up 2,522 votes compared with early voting in the 2015 election for governor, mayor-president and city-parish council.

Republican enthusiasts at a Cajundome political rally Monday — Donald Trump Jr. was the featured speaker — channeled their frustration with Louisiana’s oil and gas worries toward the sitting Democratic governor they hope to replace.

A week from today, Lafayette Parish voters either will have elected a new mayor-president or narrowed the field of five candidates to two, with a final vote Nov. 16.

As the owner or investor in six real estate franchises, Nancy Marcotte says she employs about 1,000 people.

The president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., will headline an event Monday in Lafayette aimed at rallying support for the two main Republican candidates for governor, five days before the Oct. 12 primary. 

Lafayette attorney Josh Guillory acknowledges it wasn't his best move to launch his political career by challenging the re-election of incumbent Congressman Clay Higgins in 2018. But he doesn't regret it.

Simone Champagne was a resident of Jeanerette in Iberia Parish and a state legislator for Iberia and Vermilion parishes when hurricanes Rita and Ike flooded parts of those coastal parishes in 2005 and 2008.

Over 1,000 more ballots were cast in the first four days of early voting in Lafayette Parish for the Oct. 12 election than were cast during the first four days of early voting for the 2015 gubernatorial election.

Carlos Harvin isn't like the other four candidates running for Lafayette mayor-president in the Oct. 12 election.

Carlee Alm-LaBar is the first to admit she doesn't look like a mayor-president. She's short, she doesn't wear makeup and she appears younger than her 43 years.

Twenty-seven years ago, in March 1992, voters in the city of Lafayette elected their last five-person city council.

Fifteen candidates are running for the new Lafayette City Council, the first dedicated council for the city since the city and parish consolidated in 1996.

Acadiana's 96th House District is filled with poverty-stricken neighborhoods and a diverse population that could benefit from an improved education system, according to candidates seeking to represent the district in the Oct. 12 election.

Louisiana Senate District 26 voters will choose between two candidates in a partial rematch of a 2018 special election.

Incumbent state Rep. Jean-Paul Coussan is seeking reelection for his House District 45 seat against challenger Rhonda Gleason on Oct. 12. 

State Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, will face challenger Leslie Bourque, a Democrat, in the race for District 43 in the state House of Representatives. 

Candidates vying to represent Lafayette’s education interests were on the hot seat at a community forum Monday night, answering questions about dual enrollment availability, trust in the school board and improvement in the district’s Transformation Zone.

Today's primaries in the Acadiana area and across Louisiana are chock-full of major issues and races.

Acadiana's 48th House District is largely made up of working class families living in suburban homes, but work has been harder to come by in recent years because of a sluggish economy. That's been a key issue for the four candidates seeking to rep…