By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – As of press time Friday afternoon, only one candidate officially qualified for the April 2 special election to fill the open Div. A Council-at-Large seat for St. John the Baptist Parish.

Lucien Gauff III, a democrat from LaPlace, was the only candidate to qualify for the election to replace longtime Councilman Richard “Dale” Wolfe. Gauff submitted his candidacy Wednesday morning, shortly after the qualifying period opened. As of 1 p.m. Friday, no other challengers stepped up.

Gauff, 47, is a chemical process operator at the DuPont facility in LaPlace and is a current member of the St. John Recreation Advisory Board. Gauff was a member of Parish President Natalie Robottom’s Presidential Advisory Committee, serving as the chair of the recreation/health and human services subcommittee.

Wolfe stepped down in October to take over as executive director for the St. John Parish Housing Authority and state law forbids him from holding both offices simultaneously. The winner of April’s special election will finish out Wolfe’s unexpired term, but also must compete in an Oct. 22 general election for a full four-year council term.

The council’s Division A seat covers the western half of the parish and includes Garyville, Mt. Airy, portions of Reserve and all of the west bank.

There are roughly 14,000 voters in the district.