Monique Blanco Boulet's supporters turned out for her on Election Day, along with many of those who supported third-place finisher Jan Swift, boosting her into the history books as the first woman elected Lafayette mayor-president.
Meanwhile, it appears outgoing Mayor-President Josh Guillory lost voters in the November election in precincts where he performed well in the primary, possibly in part because of low voter turnout in some parts of the parish.
In the Oct. 14 primary, Guillory led with 40% of the vote. Boulet was second with 34%. With Swift out of the race in the Nov. 18 election, Boulet received 52% of the vote compared with Guillory's 48%.
Overall turnout for the October race was 37.2%. It fell to 30.4% in November.
Comparing turnout in individual precincts between the October and November elections, the gap grows in some.
For example, in precinct 1, whose residents vote at Carencro Middle School, Guillory received 129 fewer votes in November than October. One hundred and fifty five fewer votes were cast in that precinct alone, where turnout in October was 38% and was only 18% Nov. 18.
Guillory lost votes in the northwestern part of the parish and the Carencro area — 33 in precinct 2, 44 in precinct 3 and 56 in precinct 6, which is Carencro — while Boulet picked up votes in those precincts, including 55 in precinct 6.
The mayor-president also performed poorly in south Lafayette, including the Youngsville, Broussard and Milton areas, where turnout dropped significantly Nov. 18 compared with Oct. 14.
He was down 84 votes in precinct 107 in the Milton/Youngsville area, where turnout dropped from 45.6% in October to 16.4% Nov. 18.
Guillory had received endorsements from the mayors of five smaller municipalities in the parish. He was less popular in the city of Lafayette where he and his administrators had confrontations with the Lafayette City Council over his first budget and his attorney refused to allow the City Council to hire its own attorney to work out disagreements over the Guillory team's interpretation of the Home Rule Charter.
Boulet notched small increases practically across the parish, gaining 10, 20, 50 votes in most precincts. She performed particularly well in the city of Lafayette, including north Lafayette and the center of the city, where she flipped several precincts that Guillory and Swift carried in October.
Guillory earned the ire of many north Lafayette residents early in his administration, closing recreation centers primarily in the socio-economically challenged and minority-heavy northern part of the city, poorly handling the fatal shooting of a Black man at the hands of police, firing a police chief popular with the Black community the day he was sworn in and appointing a former opponent in the 2109 election to a newly-created position, director of minority affairs.
In precinct 49, a Saints Streets neighborhood bordered by Cajundome Boulevard, Eraste Landry Road and University Avenue, Boulet gained 112 votes and carried the precinct that Swift dominated in the Oct. 14 election. It had one of the higher voter turnouts in both the October and November elections.
Boulet said Sunday she expects to announce the two co-chairs of her transition team by Thanksgiving.
She and Guillory have spoken, Boulet said Monday. They set up a meeting for Nov. 27 to discuss the transition.
Guillory, in a statement issued Monday, said it is time to focus on a smooth transition.
He thanked his supporters and the community for allowing him the opportunity to serve, and asked that everyone keep Boulet and her family in their prayers.
"We have plans for a smooth and health transition," the statement quotes Guillory as saying. "My administration and I are committed to providing Monique and her administration with the support they need to hit the ground running in January."