BATON ROUGE - Veronica “Vicky” Jones will serve as the newest 19th JDC judge, according to unofficial results from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office.

Judge Wilson Fields left a vacancy when he went to work for the First Circuit Court of Appeal in February, prompting a special election with four candidates competing for the spot: Jones, Dele Adebamiji, Elzie Alford Jr., and Vernon Thomas. 

Saturday projected Jones as the outright winner, securing more than 51% of the vote. The map used for the election wasn’t the same one that was used during qualifying for the race.

“The lines were drawn back in 1993, and of course, East Baton Rouge has seen a substantial population shift over the last three decades,” John Couvillion with JMC Analytics said. 

John Couvillon analyzes election results and says another story could be hidden in the results. Voter turnout for the statewide election was low in East Baton Rouge. Elections in Baton Rouge competed with a busy weekend as LSU celebrated Homecoming Week.

It has been more than 30 years since the district lines for the 19th JDC were drawn, and updated maps changed from three subdistricts to two. 

The maps were criticized in court. Chief Justice Don Johnson and three judicial candidates filed a lawsuit saying the maps shouldn’t be used for October’s election.

“I was one of the plaintiffs who felt like the same people who elected Judge Wilson Fields should have been the same people who elected his replacement,” Jones said.

However, attorneys for the state argued that once the governor signed the new map into law, it went into effect and should be used. A Baton Rouge judge struck down the challenge. Candidates who had qualified before the new maps were approved now had a much larger area to cover and not very much time to change their campaigning strategy.

“We went from having three Judicial Districts to now having two,” Jones said. “That increased my voting electorate from 54,000 to right at 134,000. That was very difficult.”

Still, Jones said she learned a lot from the race.

“Talking to constituents and finding out what's important to them, that was the most valuable lesson of this campaign for me,” Jones said.

It is expected that there will be another election for the same seat in October 2026.