Incumbent Mouton wins re-election to LS board
Incumbent Carla Mouton defeated challenger Brian French Tuesday in the runoff for Position 4 on the Lakeside School Board, an election conducted against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to final, unofficial results posted on the Garland County Election Commission website, Mouton received 253 votes to French’s
139. Of the total votes cast, Mouton received 79 early votes to French’s
63, and 62 election-day votes to French’s 50. The widest margin was in absentee voting, where Mouton received 112 votes to French’s 26.
Against the backdrop of public directives to practice social distancing and not socialize in groups larger than 10, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson earlier this month suspended the law limiting absentee voting eligibility to those unavoidably absent or unable to vote in person or those with illnesses or disabilities, extending qualification to all registered voters participating in Tuesday’s runoff elections.
“Thank you to everyone for your hard work in re-electing me to the Lakeside School Board. GO RAMS!!!” Mouton posted on her Facebook page Tuesday night.
Mouton and French were the top performers among the four candidates for the position in the March 3 annual school elections.
Mouton, who taught history, geography and economics for more than 20 years at Lakeside High School, and French, a mortgage banker and president and commissioner of the Lakeside Youth Football Association, were the top two vote-getters in the March 3 election. Mouton
won a 40.50% plurality of the 4,165 votes, and French polled 25.24% of the vote to qualify for Tuesday’s runoff.
In an interview with The Sentinel-Record earlier this week, Mouton said she’s running for a third term to help sustain momentum voters initiated through the passage of a millage increase in 2018. Their endorsement financed a build out that includes a performing arts center and new junior high school building. Reading and wellness programs are providing students the fundamentals for success, she said. Ensuring policies are in place to sustain and strengthen those programs and others are her motivation.