Sheriff 'Country' Seal is a rural Louisiana political giant. A cattle rancher may unseat him.

Randy “Country” Seal grabbed the mic on the table in a Washington Parish courtroom in Franklinton.

“We are going to continue doing what we’ve been doing,” he intoned, his thick drawl betraying a hint of exasperation during a debate between sheriff candidates earlier this month.

“We are doing our job,” he insisted later.

Seal's tone was unusual for the usually ebullient sheriff. His aw-shucks style, usually delivered with a wry grin, has helped make him to be one of Washington Parish’s longest-serving elected officials, a cowboy hat-clad institution unto himself. For the past 12 of those years, he's been the sheriff, an office which in many Louisiana parishes is the most powerful elected position.

Washington Parish is no different. Just outside the New Orleans metropolitan area, the parish's rolling hills of timber are a world away from the city 70 miles to the south. Washington often gets lumped in with St. Tammany and its suburban sprawl, but with about 45,000 residents, Washington has less than a quarter of St. Tammany's population. The common afflictions of the state's rural areas — poverty, opioid issues, economic stagnation — are evident throughout.

Seal, who turned 72 on Nov. 11, has been a parishwide elected official for three decades. But this year, he faces the toughest reelection opponent he’s ever had: Jason Smith, a rancher, former Marine and political newbie who has never before run for office.

Smith got 42% of the votes in the four-candidate Oct. 14 primary, eight points ahead of Seal’s 34%. It put Seal in the unfamiliar position of fighting for his political life.

“This has been the toughest campaign I’ve had,” Seal said during an interview this week. “That goes with the territory.”

‘I did my job and he got mad’

Spend two minutes with Seal and it’s easy to see the political tradition he’s embodies. He speaks with a cane-syrup Southern twang. He’s fond of dressing in jeans and boots with a black sportscoat and a cowboy hat. He greets everyone warmly.

He counts longtime state Sen. B.B. “Sixty” Rayburn as a political idol. Rayburn, a major force in the state Legislature for nearly five decades, was a Washington Parish political legend known for his ability to kill bills with just a word.

Seal has never ascended to a state office but, like Rayburn, he has been a fixture in the parish political firmament for decades. His “from the sticks” charm is evident not just in his drawl, but his nickname “Country.”

In Smith, however, Seal has drawn an opponent who can also draw on country bona fides. Photogenic and charismatic, Smith gained prominence after Seal filed a lawsuit against him last year over unpaid sales taxes. Seal's suit was criticized on social media and in some national media outlets as a powerful official coming down on a humble rancher.

Seal, who as sheriff is also the parish’s tax collector, takes issue with that depiction. He was just “doing my job,” he says, and attempting to collect sales taxes on meat that Smith sold from his ranch in Mt. Hermon.

But the suit drew the attention of Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture Mike Strain, who argued in a letter of support to Smith that farm products sold by the farmer are exempted from sales tax. The case, when reported by The Times-Picayune | The Advocate, drew national attention to Seal, much of it negative.

“He’s running because I did my job and he got mad,” Seal said.

A judge agreed with Smith. Seal did not appeal. Within a few months, Smith had announced his candidacy.

‘It’s time’ for new faces in politics

Smith, 50, has gray hair and a thick, curly beard. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, he retired from the Marine Corps in 2016 after rising to lieutenant colonel and moved to Mt. Hermon to take over his family business — a small ranch up in the northern part of the parish. There, he can often be found carrying a shepherd’s crook to direct the cattle and talking ranch business with his 82-year old father Walter.

In his campaign, Smith has insisted that it’s time for turnover at the top of the Sheriff’s Office.

“Randy’s been in public leadership for 30 years. It’s time. It’s about new perspective and new energy,” Smith said during the debate, when he was asked what needs to be changed at the Sheriff’s Office.

Smith’s comments come as a wave of new leadership is set to take over several Washington Parish elected offices. Parish President Richard Thomas did not run for reelection. The two state representatives whose districts include parts of Washington Parish both ran for other offices.

If Smith wins, he will go from running 240 acres and a couple hundred head of cattle to running a public agency with more than 80 full-time employees and an $8 million budget. Smith noted he led more than 100 Marines into Iraq and also led a Marine battalion with nearly 1,000 soldiers spread across four states.

“I am prepared for the responsibilities of the executive position,” he said.

Smith has vowed to increase transparency and modernize the office. Those are some of the same themes Seal struck 12 years ago when he defeated Bobby Crowe, who had been in office just a single term.

“The office was in disarray,” Seal has said.

That year, 2011, the primary results were similar to October’s. Seal led the primary, getting 41% of the vote. Crowe came second, with 28% and two other candidates split the rest.

Then, Seal noted that a majority of parish voters were looking for a change.

“72.3% of the people said they wanted a new sheriff,” he noted at the time. This year, when Smith outpolled him, his reaction was different.

“That was surprising and disappointing,” he said this week.

Washington Parish faces significant issues

The parish faces some daunting issues. Crime in Bogalusa has become a frequent reminder that drugs and violence don’t neglect rural communities. The parish’s jail is well over capacity, leading to complaints of violence and bad conditions. Smith has focused on these themes when he has talked to groups and in campaign events.

“The biggest problem in the parish is the security situation in Bogalusa,” he said. The jail, he added will require a "long-term solution."

Seal bats aside the criticisms. A full jail indicates he’s doing his job of getting criminals off the streets, he said.

“It’s not against the law to give them a blanket, a pillow and a mattress to let them lie on the floor,” said Seal. “We have a 144-bed jail, sometimes we have 260 in there.”

Recently, the parish sent 30 inmates to Plaquemines Parish due to the crowding, Seal noted.

In Bogalusa, the Sheriff’s Office is already working there, though that requires treading carefully due to long-standing territorial sensitivities, Seal argued. Bogalusa, a city, has its own police department.

“We are working in Bogalusa, that is a touchy situation,” Seal said. “You go in there and take over, you make enemies.”

'Country' Seal's last campaign

It would be a mistake to assume Seal has already lost, said James Hartman, a northshore-based political consultant who is familiar with Washington Parish’s insular political scene.

“When a long-term incumbent does not finish first in a multi-candidate field, it generally does not bode well for him or her,” Hartman said.

Seal appears to be serious about fighting. His war chest was down to $6,800 at the end of October, campaign finance reports show. Seal loaned his campaign $8,000 that month and has raised another $20,500 in November, according to the reports. He'll need that to combat Smith, who reported having nearly $29,000 on hand at the end of October and reported raising another $7,000 in November.

In addition to the cash, Seal’s long history in Washington Parish politics warns against chiseling his political headstone yet, Hartman cautioned. 

“He is a formidable politician,” he said. “It would be a mistake to count him out.”

Still, Seal has at times reflected on the possibility that it may not go his way.

“This is my last campaign, win, lose or draw,” he said. “I’d like to go out on my own terms.”

He has vowed not to be bitter if he loses.

“I just want to thank the people for what I have and what they let me do,” he said. “I’ve had a great career.”