Judge Steven Tureau
Judge Steven Tureau’s bid for reelection to the bench in Division, 23rd Judicial District Court is alive and well. His opponent, Rob Snyder, Jr., sought to have Tureau’s name removed from the ballot, alleging that Tureau had “falsely certified” having filed certain income tax documents going back to 2022 (see below for specific claims). After taking evidence at St. James Parish Courthouse today, Judge Paul Bonin ruled in Tureau’s favor, clearing the way for the reelection bid on November 3.
Tureau’s defense relied upon the testimony of his accountant, Dale Thornton, who testified that the judge filed either tax returns or obtained extensions for each of the applicable years.
Tureau is the overwhelming favorite in the contest to preside over Division D in Ascension Assumption, and St. James Parishes.
Published yesterday:
If you can’t beat ’em, sue ’em. Judge Steven Tureau’s opponent in the November 3 election for Judge, Division D of the 23rd Judicial District, challenged Tureau’s eligibility in a pleading filed last week. The summary proceeding to determine Tureau’s eligibility is scheduled for Tuesday according to the incumbent/defendant who (assuming he is on the ballot) will demolish “Rob” Snyder, Jr. on November 3.
Plaintiffs, Robert and Ruth Snyder, have asked for Tureau to be removed from the ballot based on the assertion that the incumbent falsified the requisite qualifying affidavit. The Snyders have alleged that “a public records request revealed that Tureau did not file his taxes with the Louisiana Department of Revenue in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.”
Would that, in and of itself, render Tureau ineligible?
The qualifying affidavit signed by every candidate for public office in the State of Louisiana is governed by Revised Statute 18:492, which includes the following:
A. An action objecting to the candidacy of a person who qualified as a candidate in a primary election shall be based on one or more of the following grounds:
(7) The defendant falsely certified on his notice of candidacy that for each of the previous five tax years he has filed his federal and state income tax returns, has filed for an extension of time for filing either his federal or state income tax return or both as provided in R.S. 18:463(A)(2), or was not required to file either a federal or state income tax return or both.
Tureau provided documentation evidencing the granting of extensions for 2022-2025 along with his 2021 tax return. There are three ways to satisfy the paragraph’s requirements according to Judge Tureau, and he “accurately certified” compliance with the second (see highlighted clause above). Tureau added that “there is a presumption of eligibility when any candidacy is challenged,” exuding confidence “that the challenge will fail.”
Still, it is Rob Snyder’s best shot at unseating Steven Tureau from the Division D bench. Judge Tureau, seeking a second term, is a prohibitive favorite over Snyder, a virtual unknown in local legal circles (several lawyers were surveyed, none of them knew Snyder).
According to the Secretary of State, Snyder is a Republican who resides in Gramercy (that is St. James Parish for you newcomers unversed in local geography). 2026 is not the first time Snyder has been on the ballot, having failed to make the runoff in a 2020 election for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal.
Snyder ran as a Democrat in 2020
Contested in two parishes, Snyder garnered a paltry 14% of the vote in his native St. James Parish.
Assuming it goes to the voters on November 3, we expect Tureau to better the overwhelming electoral victory he achieved in 2020. Racking up 61% of the vote against Ascension’s Christopher Bridges, we’d take the over against Snyder. Consider, Tureau dominated in all three parishes comprising the 23rd Judicial District six years ago.
- Ascension – 58%
- Assumption – 72%
- St. James – 68%
Maybe Snyder does better than 32% in St. James (a dubious prospect given his 2020 performance), but we are hard-pressed to imagine a scenario in which doesn’t get embarrassed in Ascension. Ascension has four times as many registered voters than St. James has total population, a blueprint for electoral slaughter.
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