Caddo Sheriff Candidate Nickelson Issues Response Statement

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This has been an unprecedented race and election for Caddo Parish Sheriff.  The race initially started with 6 candidates looking to fill the vacancy left by the retiring of long-time Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator.  Prator will serve until his term ends June 20th, 2024.

Sheriff Race Summary

In the primary election, John Nickelson finished with 45% of the vote to Henry Whitehorn's 35% to put both candidates into the runoff election. It would seem that a 10 point lead would be a comfortable margin, but things changed in the runoff.  Voter turnout ended up being a big issue with Republican voter turnout dropping off.

The runoff election ended with Whitehorn gathering 21,621 votes to Nickelson's 21,620... resulting in a 1 vote margin. After a recount, the results didn't change, in fact, the margin remained a 1 vote margin.

According to the Nickelson campaign, subsequent investigations into the election results revealed many discrepencies in the almost 7,800 mail-in ballots, including ballots that weren't signed by the voter, multiple ballots witnessed by the same person, or ballots without the legally required information on the affidavit flap.  By law, these ballots should never have been counted.  But there is no way now to determine for whom the votes were cast, so there is no way to validate the existing results.

It was also discovered that 2 Caddo Parish residents had voted twice, once by mail-in ballot, then again in person on election day.  Since the courts have decided there is no way to determine a winner in the race, a new election has been ordered.  

Whitehorn Statement

Now, the people of Caddo Parish have a job to do. We must send the message that we will not sit back and allow anyone to overturn an election simply because they are unhappy with the results. I was always taught that the person with the most votes wins, even if that’s by a thousand votes or by one vote. One vote does matter, and he should not be given a redo just because he lost by one vote.

Nickelson Statement

Retired Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Joseph Bleich ordered a new election for Caddo Parish Sheriff because serious violations of election law occurred during the November election. 

The most disturbing violations included numerous absentee ballots that were not even signed by a voter or witnessed as required by law but were still illegally counted. One member of the Caddo Parish Board of Election Supervisors admitted under oath that these illegal ballots somehow 

"slipped through the cracks" and were counted-raising serious concerns about the integrity of our election process. 

Other violations included mentally incapacitated people being allowed to vote and at least two people illegally voting twice. The Court of Appeal upheld Judge Bleich's ruling, and the Louisiana Supreme Court let the ruling stand as well. As one Louisiana Supreme Court Justice wrote, the November election simply was not a "free and fair election." 

Despite these undisputed facts, Henry Whitehorn continues to claim falsely that he won the November election-defying the courts and disregarding the rule of law even as he runs to be the chief law enforcement officer of Caddo Parish. His willingness to divide and mislead our community for political advantage shows that he is the wrong man to serve as our next sheriff. 

My opponent and I have different backgrounds and different visions for the future of Caddo Parish. Unlike my opponent, I am a native of Caddo Parish. I earned a law degree from the University of Virginia, one of our nation's top law schools, and I have practiced law for almost twenty years. I have a comprehensive understanding of the criminal justice system and am ideally prepared to set strategic objectives and policy for the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office. 

As a member of the Shreveport City Council and the chairman of its Audit and Finance Committee, I exercised oversight authority over a $500 million operating budget and fought against the worst abuses of the Perkins administration. My service on the Council leaves no question that I am better prepared to exercise unilateral control over the Caddo Parish Sheriff Office's $70 million annual budget than Henry Whitehorn-Adrian Perkins' former CAO and right-hand man who even today continues to surround himself with members of the Perkins team. 

I look forward to Election Day on March 23, 2024, and I will continue to share with voters why my vision and leadership will make Caddo Parish a safer place to live, work, and raise a family. 

 

A new runoff election will now be placed on the March 23rd ballot.