In his first attempt at political office, Mount Hermon business owner David Anthony upended incumbent Aubrey Posey in Saturday’s runoff to win the District 7 seat on the Washington Parish Council.

Anthony nipped Posey by 61 votes, 979-918. Anthony’s 979 votes represented 52 percent of the district voters who went to the polls.

“I’m very excited to win. A lot of people pulled through for me,” Anthony said. “I’m ready to get some things changed in the parish. I’m ready to move the parish forward and create jobs.”

Anthony owns Anthony’s Painting Co. He does residential and commercial painting.

Anthony said he won by giving his thoughts on how parish government should operate.

“I won by being honest and getting the word out on how things should be done in the parish. I think our tax dollars were being spent wrong, like the roads,” Anthony said. “We’re using pea gravel on the roads now. I’d rather seem them blacktopping a few miles a year on a couple of roads. The pea gravel just doesn’t hold up. It’s constantly costing tax dollars for maintenance.”

As a businessman, Anthony said he could communicate with other business owners.

“I can approach businesses and tell them why our parish is a good place to do business,” Anthony said.

Posey, who is completing his second term, said he thought a combination of issues led to his defeat.

“The people have spoken and I’m going to hold my head up,” Posey said. “The votes and stances I took on the council were what I stood for and were in the best interest of Washington Parish.”

Posey said the condition of parish roads was only one issue.

“The parish roads probably had something to do with losing,” Posey said. “But there were four or five things together I think that led to my defeat. People just had different opinions than I did.

“Part of it was the recreation issue. We needed to put that to a vote,” Posey said. “We certainly need something for the youth. Some of the fire department I thought hurt me. I was accused of trying to take some of the fire department’s money when somebody came before the Infrastructure Committee and said I wanted to put all the fire department’s money together.”

Posey said the feud between Riverside Medical Center and St. Tammany Parish Hospital’s Family Medical Clinic also likely cost him votes.

“People never did understand the fight between St. Tammany Parish Hospital and Riverside — why we couldn’t go in there and get the doctors to come back,” Posey said. “Both of those hospitals are tax-district entities. The only thing the parish council can do is appoint board members.”

Posey said he doesn’t intend to disappear from public life.

“I’ve served the people of Washington Parish one way or another since I’ve been here,” he said. “I don’t necessarily intend to quit helping people. I can still volunteer time to the organization.”