Davis re-elected as president

St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis outdistanced two opponents to easily win his third consecutive term, according to unofficial returns from Saturday's election.

But the next term will be his last, as voters Saturday convincingly rejected a referendum that would have lifted term limits in the Home Rule Charter for his office.

Davis, who won his first two terms without opposition, easily turned back the challenge of Freddie Boothe III of Folsom and Greg Sharp of Bush. Noting that Davis had never faced an opponent, the two challengers said it was time for Davis to earn a voter mandate to retain his seat. Davis got that mandate, and it was an overwhelming vote of confidence..

"To me, it's astounding," Davis told jubilant supporters at his campaign headquarters near Mandeville Saturday night. "It looks like we got almost 78 percent of the vote and I want to thank everyone for helping us over this."

Davis said early in the evening that supporters posted at every polling place reported that he carried all 158 precincts. The election results "show we're on the right track," he said. "It's been exciting the past eight years. And I'm looking forward to the next four years. A lot of great things are happening in St. Tammany."

Davis gave his wife, Maria, a bouquet of yellow roses and told supporters, "We'll be back at work early Monday morning . . . Well, maybe not so early."

Davis said it "feels good" to win so convincingly and "I'm very humbled by the vote . . . Truthfully, I didn't know what to expect. But as I talked to people, I got very positive feedback."

Davis said before the election that he would seek a fourth term if the referendum to lift term limits was approved, but did not campaign for or against an issue that was put on the ballot by the Parish Council.

He said he could live by the voters' decision to keep term limits intact.

"Term limits is a controversial issue," Davis said. "And I tried to remove myself from that issue. I tried to keep it separate."

Apparently, the voters did too. Although they overwhelmingly gave Davis another four years, they clearly stated they want the three-consecutive term limit for his office kept in the charter.

Davis, in a relatively low-key campaign, pointed to his record during the past eight years and his leadership that helped St. Tammany recover from Katrina relatively quickly.

80 of 158 precincts Votes Pct.

Kevin C. Davis-R 23,366 79

Freddie Boothe III-O 3,306 11

Greg Sharp-D 3,072 10