Yep, its about time for local parish election talk to heat up. Aug.6-8 are qualifying dates for the fall Oct. 12 primary.

Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator will seek re-election. Prator was first elected sheriff in 2000. He will be considered to be a heavy favorite. https://www.facebook.com/sheriffsteveprator/

South Caddo Marshal Eric Hatfield will again challenge Prator. Hatfield loss to him by a 73 - 27 margin in 2015. Hatfield has scattered yard signs in south Caddo.

Former sheriff deputy Glenn Cornell has stated he will challenge his former boss. Prator fired Cornell in earlier this year. Cornell has a website (https://glenncornellforcaddosheriff.org/)

All 12 Caddo Commission terms end in early 2020.

Three of the current commissioners are finishing their third and last term. Thus, there will new faces in the seats held by Doug Dominick (District 1), Matthew Linn (District 4), and Jim Smith (District 11).

Mike Middleton (District 8) has announced he will not seek re-election after completing his first term. Thus District 8 will have a new commissioner also.

Todd Hopkins, Caddo Commission clerk, is said to be running for Dominic’s seat. Hopkins has announced he will retire as clerk at the end of the year. Hopkins, the former mayor of Oil City, should be a heavy favorite in this district, which is the only district.

John-Paul Young has announced his candidacy for District 4. Young, the part owner of The Levee Restaurant, has a campaign website (John Paul Young for Caddo Commission). The son of a Caddo juvenile judge, John-Paul can expect to have substantial support in his district.

Jim Taliaferro has announced his candidacy for Middleton’s seat. Taliaferro ran unsuccessfully for mayor last fall. He has high name recognition from that campaign as well as a prior campaign for City Marshal.

Parker Ward is running for Smith’s seat. Ward ran unsuccessfully against Smith in 2016. Ward has been actively campaigning and he has a website (https://www.facebook.com/Ward4Caddo/ ).

Water cooler talk at city hall is that council chairman Jerry Bowman, Jr. may also run for this seat. If elected, he would resign this council seat. In that event rumor has it that he will push to have his wife, Ursula, appointed to his council seat.

There has been some speculation that Lynn Cawthorne (District 6) may have competition. Cawthorne and his sister have a trial date this fall for charges related to a federally funded summer children’s food program. The trial is after qualifying, but before the primary election.

Scuttlebutt has it that Ken Epperson may challenge Louis Johnson (District 12). Epperson held this seat in 2017 when he resigned to become the director of the NW Louisiana Veterans Cemetery. Reportedly Epperson was recently fired from this post due to numerous complaints.

Sheriff races always draw substantial publicity and this can be expected In Caddo again this year. Commission races are generally low key and are often overshadowed by the sheriff race as well as state wide elections for governor, other state offices and state legislature elections. More interest can be expected in the upcoming weeks.