Denham Springs voters trimmed a three-way mayoral field down to two on Tuesday, sending City Councilman Jim Gilbert and longtime city water department superintendent Ben Harris to a runoff. The third contender, bookstore owner and city commission member John Cavalier, was eliminated after the three-candidate race for the seat held by outgoing Mayor Gerard Landry.
“Three men were vying for the spot and on Tuesday, city residents have sent two men—Jim Gilbert and Ben Harris—to a runoff election,” according to Unfiltered with Kiran. Landry has held the mayor's office since 2014 and decided against seeking another term, according to WBRZ, which also reported that Gilbert and Harris ran as Republicans while Cavalier ran without party affiliation.
Who Was in the Race
Cavalier, a lifelong Denham Springs resident, serves on both the Denham Springs Planning and Zoning Commission and the Denham Springs Historic Commission, per the same Unfiltered with Kiran report. He and his wife opened Cavalier House Books in 2009 before expanding with a second location in Lafayette and later launching the Looziana Book Company, the outlet reported.
Gilbert was elected to the Denham Springs City Council in 2022 and served on Livingston Parish President-elect Randy Delatte's transition team in 2023, the report states. Before his council service, Gilbert spent more than 16 years with Livingston Parish Fire Protection District #5, working as a firefighter, captain, commissioner and board chairman, and he is now retired after nearly 40 years in the petrochemical industry.
Harris has built his candidacy around his tenure inside city government. He has worked for Denham Springs since 2002, starting as a laborer and rising to superintendent of the city's Water Department, according to Livingston Parish News. That outlet also reported Harris is running with the backing of outgoing Mayor Landry himself.
Flooding and Growth Dominate the Debate
The race has centered heavily on flood protection, infrastructure and growth, with all three candidates outlining priorities on those fronts, as reported by Business Report Weekly. A candidate forum covered traffic, flooding and master-planning topics, per WBRZ's separate coverage of the debate; Harris also attended the Community Impact Council forum with the other two candidates. Harris has said he wants to build a comprehensive city master plan focused on infrastructure improvements before pursuing new economic development, according to WBRZ's earlier profile of the race.
Voters also got a chance to hear from all three candidates directly at a forum hosted by the Community Impact Council, as reported by WAFB. Livingston Parish News reported that Harris has emphasized transparency between city government and residents as a core piece of his pitch to voters.
Denham Springs is still shaped by the 2016 flood and the recovery that followed it, a backdrop that has informed much of the infrastructure and planning debate in this year's mayoral contest. With Landry stepping aside after more than a decade leading the city, the runoff between Gilbert and Harris will determine who takes on those flood-protection and growth challenges next.
