District Judge, 40th Judicial District Court, Division A
St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana
My vote power
High
Election date
November 3, 2026 · Primary election
The District Judge, 40th Judicial District Court, Division A primary election in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana is on November 3, 2026. 2 candidates are running: Atoundra Pierre Lawson (Democratic) and Vercell Fiffie (Democratic). Vercell Fiffie is the incumbent. One vote here carries high weight compared with other races.
How do we calculate my vote power?
What determines the vote power rating: Representation: how much weight one vote carries here compared with a statewide vote — the smaller the district, the more each vote counts. Decisiveness: how likely this race is to be close, based on past results or current analyst ratings, plus whether more candidates are running than there are seats.
Representation: High · 71 out of 100
This district is a small slice of its state, so each vote here carries much more weight than a vote in a statewide race. About 40,743 people live here.
Show the representation math
score = 50 + 50 × ln(state population ÷ this district's) ÷ ln(50,000) = 50 + 50 × ln(4,611,961 ÷ 40,743) ÷ ln(50,000) = 71.85, measured against a statewide vote in LA (grades: 66+ high, 55+ above average, 33+ average, otherwise low; a statewide race is the 50 baseline)
Decisiveness: Unknown
No analyst ratings or past results for this contest yet.
High representation → My vote power: High.
Some data is missing, so this rating is based on partial information and capped at "High".
What does this office do?
- Deciding trials in the county
- Ruling on evidence and setting sentences in criminal cases
- Deciding family, probate, and civil disputes
Affects: Public Safety and Crime Control, Housing Affordability, Civil Rights,
Who is running?
Democratic
Atoundra Pierre Lawson is a St. John the Baptist Parish attorney with 26 years of experience who helped start the local court's drug court program. She later trained groups abroad on preventing fraud for a U.S. aid agency contractor and volunteers with the NAACP.
Democratic · Incumbent
Vercell Fiffie has been a district judge in St. John the Baptist Parish since 2021. Before joining the bench, he practiced law for more than 14 years, handling family, personal injury, business, land, and criminal cases.
Sources: voterportal.sos.la.gov2 · 40thjdc.org
Last updated September 23, 2026.