Incumbent Darren Lombard will face challenger Calvin Duncan in a runoff election for clerk of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

Lombard led 53% to 41% in early voting, but on Saturday, Duncan caught up and they were neck-and-neck with about 47% of the vote each.

The weeks leading up to Saturday's runoff saw Lombard and Duncan publicly spar as they fought for votes.

Duncan ran on a promise to reform an antiquated office that he said had derailed cases and harmed defendants, including Duncan himself: He spent 28 years at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for a murder and, in 2021, a judge vacated his conviction . But Duncan said his efforts to prove his wrongful conviction were hampered by an inability to access records.

“I don’t want what happened to me to happen to any

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