Three St. Mary Parish incumbents were re-elected to the St. Mary Parish Council during Saturday’s runoff election.

Incumbent Rodney Olander was re-elected to his position as District 3 representative after securing 55% of the vote against opponent Peter Soprano, who finished the night with 45% of the vote. There were 718 St. Mary voters who chose Olander and 585 who voted for Soprano. Unofficial voter turnout was 31.7%.

In District 5, Leslie “Les” Rulf also secured another term following Saturday night’s runoff with opponent Douglas Streety Jr. Rulf finished with 54% of the vote, or 493 voters, against Streety’s 46%, or 422 voters. Unofficial turnout was 22.6%

Finally, Mark Duhon will be serving another term as councilman for District 8 following his victory against Carlo Gagliano Jr. Duhon won with 63% of the voters, or 599 voters, while Gagliano finished with 37% of the vote, or 353 voters. Unofficial turnout was 29.3%.

St. Mary voters also approved three of the four state propositions that were on the ballot Saturday night. A constitutional amendment to clarify the timing of gubernatorial action on a bill was approved by St. Mary voters, garnering 62% approval.

A proposition to remove certain funds from the state constitution and send those monies to the general fund was also approved. The funds included the Atchafalaya Basin Conservation Fund and Higher Education Louisiana Partnership Fund, and won approval in St. Mary with 51% of the vote. An amendment to authorize the local governing authority of a parish to provide an ad valorem tax exemption for qualified first responders also passed with 53% of the vote.

An amendment to authorize the legislature to use up to $250 from the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund to alleviate a budget deficit was the only proposition that failed in St. Mary. Voters rejected the proposition with 56% voting no and only 44% voting yes.

The voting trend was in line with the average state opinion. The first three propositions all passed statewide and the fourth was denied.