Vacherie attorney Jude Gravois defeated 40th District Judge Mary Hotard Becnel Saturday to take the Division A seat in the 5th Curcuit Court of Appeal, which includes all of St. James Parish and the east bank of St. John.

With all 54 precincts reporting, Gravois had 5,387 votes — or 50.99 percent — to 5,177 for Becnel.

Both candidates carried their home parishes by wide margins, but Gravois ran stronger in St. John Parish than Becnel did in St. James. Gravois won St. James by a 4,313-to-798 margin while Becnel won St. John by 4,379-to-1,074. During the race, both candidates cited their experience as a key qualification for the post, in which judges deal mainly with paperwork, hearing arguments by attorneys but required to research the law and write opinions.

Gravois is a 1971 graduate of St. James High School, a 1975 graduate of Nicholls State University and a 1978 graduate of LSU Law School.

In other balloting in the River Parishes, all bond proposals passed in St. John and St. Charles parishes.

In St. John:

Proposition 1: $8 million for water system improvements was approved 3,794-1,922.

Proposition 2: $7 million for improvements to the West Bank Courthouse and construction of a government building on the East Bank was approved 3,392-2,293.

Proposition 3: $9.7 million for drainage improvements and construction of a Lake Pontchartrain levee system was approved 3,829-1,800.

Proposition 4: $2 million for improvements to three intersections of Airline Highway in LaPlace was approved 3,762-1,963.

Proposition 5: $2.8 million for recreation enhancements on the West Bank and East Bank. This includes construction of a gymnasium on the East Bank was approved 3,219-2,493.

In St. Charles, voters approved the issuance of $11.5 million in bonds to develop and construct a new emergency department ($5.2 million) at St. Charles Parish Hospital and $6.3 million to refinance existing debt by a margin of 1,180-569.