Vernon Parish voters elected Asa Skinner to serve as District Attorney and Jim Mitchell to serve as 30th Judicial District Judge in Saturday's election.
Skinner and A.C. “Chuck” Dowden qualified for the position of District Attorney earlier this summer after current District Attorney Bill Tilley announced his retirement. Skinner earned 6,487 votes to Dowden’s 4,047. Skinner gained the lead after earning 57 percent of the votes cast during early voting held in late September.
“I am very thankful for the people of Vernon Parish for the confidence they have shown in me throughout the process of this election,” said Skinner.
Skinner has been a prosecutor in the Vernon Parish District Attorney’s office for 30 years and has served as first assistant district attorney since 1996.
“I want to thank everyone who assisted me during this election, those I have called the ground soldiers and down field blockers,” Skinner continued. “I plan to hit the ground running and take care of the people’s business and do the best job possible.”
Skinner, born and raised in Vernon Parish, is a graduate of Leesville High School, Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and LSU Law School.
He has represented both the Town of Hornbeck and the Vernon Parish School Board for over 28 years. He is a member of the National District Attorney’s Association, Louisiana District Attorney’s Association, Louisiana State Bar Association and the Vernon Parish Bar Association and is a board member of Helping Hands Ministry and Deacon with the First Baptist Church of Leesville.
Local attorney Jim Mitchell won 30th Judicial District Judge, Division C with 58 percent of the votes, defeating Clay Williams who earned 41 percent of the votes.
A graduate of Louisiana State University and the LSU Law School, Mitchell served in the United States Army as a captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps before opening his private practice in Leesville in 1974.
Mitchell has served as president of the 30th Judicial District Bar Association, acting city judge, attorney for the Leesville Housing Authority, president of the Leesville Lions Club and president of the Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association. He is a member of the Louisiana Cattlemen’s Association, Ducks Unlimited and the National Wild Turkey Federation, as well as a lifetime member of the American Quarter Horse Association and the Louisiana Lions League for Crippled Children.
Precinct by precinct results of both races will be published in the Wednesday edition of the<I>Leesville Daily Leader<P>.
Leesville, La. —
