Republican Cy D’Aquila Jr. beat independent Kenneth Fabre on Tuesday to be the next district attorney for East and West Feliciana parishes, bringing a new face to a powerful role for the first time in nearly two and a half decades.
D'Aquila beat Fabre by a nearly 2-to-1 in the vote tally. Complete but unofficial returns show he had 62% of the votes.
D’Aquila will replace longtime District Attorney Samuel D’Aquilla, who is taking office as the Division B judge in the same 20th Judicial District in which he had previously been district attorney since 2003. The men are distant relatives but spell their similar last names slightly differently.
Cy D'Aquila couldn't be reached immediately for comment late Tuesday.
The race for the two parishes' chief prosecutor pitted a longtime local public defender, D'Aquila, against an attorney, Fabre, with a mixture of prosecutorial and criminal defense experience for multiple communities in the Baton Rouge area.
D'Aquila's victory also makes him the first Republican district attorney in the Felicianas at least since the early 1990s. Sam D'Aquilla, who left the District Attorney's Office on Oct. 1 to fill the vacant judgeship, is an independent and was previously a Democrat. The seat has a six-year term.
Cy D’Aquila has practiced civil, criminal and family law in East and West Feliciana for over 18 years, including running a private practice and serving as a public defender for 16 years. D’Aquila has said that his experience as a defense attorney will assist him as a prosecutor because he'll be able to poke holes in the defenders’ cases.
During the campaign, D’Aquila received endorsements from 18th Judicial District Attorney Tony Clayton; interim 20th Judicial District Attorney Bruce Dodd, the former district attorney's top deputy who temporarily replaced him when he left last month; and several other area elected officials.
D’Aquila’s goals for his term as district attorney include personally prosecuting high-profile jury trials, educating and training detectives, and creating and improving programs for troubled youth in the district.
During the campaign, Fabre had touted his strong experience as a prosecutor in West Baton Rouge Parish and Baker.