By JIM MUSTIAN

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – The district attorney’s contest appears poised to take center stage in St. John the Baptist Parish in this fall’s elections.

Qualifying for the Oct. 4 elections came to a close Friday evening with Tom Daley and Kerry D. Brown making the cut to compete for a district attorney slot that’s been filled for the last 23 years.

The three 40th Judicial District judges in the parish, however, remained unopposed.

In St. Charles Parish, Lauren Lemmon qualified to run against Kirk Granier for his Division D seat on the 29th Judicial District Court. The other two district judge seats, as well as District Attorney Harry J. Morel Jr. are unopposed.

The district attorney race in the 23rd Judicial District, which includes St. James Parish as well as Ascension Parish and Assumption Parish, could prove to be one of the more exciting races in the area as four candidates have qualified to run.

Ricky Babin, Louis Lambert, Charles S. “Chuck” Long and Pegram Mire Jr. have all qualified for the district attorney race. Babin and Long are currently assistant district attorneys.