By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — Phillip Ellis won the race for 3rd Judicial District Court judge, Division B, on Tuesday, while Mike Smith and Addison “Add” Goff advanced to a Dec. 12 runoff for Ruston city judge, according to unofficial results.
In the district court race, which covers both Lincoln and Union Parishes, Ellis received 11,975 votes (61 percent) to 7,532 votes, for Lewis A. Jones.
Ellis said he was humbled by the result and thanked the people of Union and Lincoln parishes.
“I’m just greatly humbled and honored to be elected to this position,” Ellis said. “It’s been a great pleasure for me to be running, and for the people of Union and Lincoln parishes to see the quality that’s there. We’re looking forward to serving and to being a part of the community and serving this jurisdiction as well as I possibly can.”
Ellis also credited the people who supported his campaign.
“I just want to thank everybody that’s been a part of the campaign, all the people that’s been behind us, because it’s not anything that I could have done on my own,” Ellis said. “From the get-go, we’ve always said that this was a God thing. We’re just going to be still prayerfully doing what we do.”
In the race for Ruston city judge, no candidate cleared the majority needed to win outright, sending the top two finishers to a runoff. Smith led with 5,433 votes (41 percent). Goff finished second with 4,424 votes (33 percent). Gina Jones received 3,503 votes and did not advance.
Smith said he was glad to reach the runoff and thanked Jones for her campaign.
“We’re really excited to have the opportunity to make the runoff, and I’m proud of Gina and how she ran her campaign and everything,” Smith said. “We’re grateful to her and wish her the best, but we’re excited, and we got a lot more work to do. I also want to express my gratitude and thanks to all my supporters.”
Goff said his campaign got a late start but has built momentum.
“We got in the race a lot later than everybody else, but we’ve got great momentum,” Goff said. “Happy to make the runoff, and I look forward to a good, hard-fought battle coming up. I’m super proud of family and friends. I give all the glory to God, of course, number one, but all my supporters, families and friends. I’m so happy with the support that we’ve gotten through this. And I look forward to serving the citizens full-time.”
Louisiana’s runoff election is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 12. Early voting for the runoff runs Nov. 28 through Dec. 5, excluding Sunday, Nov. 29.
