The political world is still spinning after the surprise--not shocking--announcement by Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator that he was not going to seek re-election.

Prator followed by returning approximately $300,000 that he had raised this year for his campaign.

Many names have surfaced since then.

Several candidates did not meet the one-year Caddo residency requirement.

Others who have been mentioned have had second thoughts.
And a couple of names did not get any traction when mentioned in political circles.

The most recent rumored candidate is former Shreveport city councilman John Nickelson who chose to not seek a second term last fall.

Reportedly Nickelson is giving serious consideration to an election bid.

Like Prator, he is a Republican.

Nickelson is a highly accomplished attorney with no law enforcement experience. However former Sheriff Don Hathaway (Sr.) was also a law enforcement novice.

Nickelson was a vocal council member and a big advocate of the smoking ban on Shreveport casinos, which has been recently modified by the current city council.

Although a strong law and order man, Nickelson co-sponsored with council woman Tabatha Taylor the city ordinance that de-criminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Nickelson was also very conservative with city spending and on more than one occasion locked horns with Mayor Adrian Perkins and CAO Henry Whitehorn.

The endorsement of Prator will be critical to any success by Nickelson in his campaign.

Prator's term ends on June 30 of next year, which will allow plenty of time for the winner of the election to learn the job, and that is especially the case with a candidate endorsed by Prator.

Nickelson can likely raise the funds needed for the campaign, and with Prator's endorsement they would probably get at least $200,000 of the money returned by Prator.

Nickelson makes his living practicing law, and a campaign would adversely affect his income, especially since the associate in his office Heidi Martin is a candidate for Caddo Juvenile Judge.

With qualifying Aug. 8-10, Nickleson has little time to waste if he decides to run for Sheriff.

Whitehorn has officially announced, has had at least two fundraisers and has a campaign headquarters and website.

With the extensive power outages, the summer heat, the Fourth of July holiday and the mass murders on that date along with summer vacations, there has been little public attention to the sheriff's race.

Nonetheless putting together a campaign organization is no easy task, even if a candidate successfully ran a previous race.

One can expect a decision by Nickelson soon, and that depends in large part on Sheriff Prator who is out of town at a law enforcement conference.