(The Center Square) – The race for Caddo Parish district attorney is set to be decided in November between incumbent James Stewart Sr. and at least one other challenger.
Stewart, a Democrat, announced his re-election campaign on Wednesday, touting decades of courtroom and legal experience as a prosecutor, district judge, state appellate court judge, assistant district attorney and Caddo district attorney. Elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2021, he handles one of the busiest courts in north Louisiana, according to state records.
Candidates for the race have between July 29-31 to qualify. The general election is Nov. 3.
District attorneys serve six-year terms. At the end of 2024, Stewart’s salary was $185,258, according to a Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s report.
In a statement announcing his campaign, Stewart said Caddo is recognized as one of the most active and effective district attorney offices in the state, handling more prosecutions than any other parish.
His campaign highlighted a Special Victims Unit, expanding the Victim’s Assistance Program, establishing a formal pre-trial diversion department and participating with the Summer Leadership Academy for Youth.
“If you hear anybody saying you need to lock up everybody, you need to run from them,” Stewart said Thursday at Mt. Canaan Baptist Church in Shreveport. “We’re making progress. We’re better than we were, but we can all do better.”
He faces Republican state Sen. Alan Seabaugh, who said in October he would enter the race.
Seabaugh, a Shreveport attorney, spent 13 years in the Louisiana House and was elected to the Senate in 2023. He has criticized Stewart’s handling of prosecutions and has said too many people who have been arrested are “being let back out on the street.”
“When people from other parishes go to dinner or doctors’ appointments in Shreveport, they make sure they are out of town before dark. It shouldn’t be that way. (Criminals) are not afraid of the justice system. I intend to get their attention,” Stewart said in a phone interview Friday.
Stewart and Seabaugh are the only candidates who have formally declared for the race. Campaign finance reports filed last year show Stewart with $115,032 on hand and Seabaugh with $122,893.
Though Louisiana is rolling out party-primary voting this year for some races, the district attorney race is not one of them.
If one of the candidates receives over 50% of the vote on the November ballot, he will be declared the winner. If needed, a runoff would be scheduled on Dec. 12.
