Ryan Seal, a business owner and former executive director of the Franklinton Area and Washington Economic Development Foundations, will be a candidate for Washington Parish President on the Oct. 14 ballot. 

               Seal, 56, is a graduate of Bogalusa High School, has a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana College and a master’s degree from Webster University in St. Louis. He is also a graduate of the Community Development Institute at University of Central Arkansas. 

               He is married to Tonia Moody Seal, and has two daughters and a son – Presley, 25, Annabella, 22, and Gentry, 20. Ryan and Tonia reside in Bogalusa, and are active members of First Baptist Church, where is on the Board of Trustees. He also serves on the Board of the Franklinton Chamber of Commerce, and is past-president of the Franklinton Rotary Club.

                “Through my work with the Development Foundations for nearly 20 years, I worked hard to attract clean, good-paying jobs to our community, always seeking to balance economic growth and quality of life,” Seal said. “I know we can have both, and as Parish President, I will continue this mission.

“I will work with federal, state and local law enforcement to address the crime and drug problems that plague our parish,” Seal said. “I will find ways with existing funding to improve our parish roads and bridges.  And I will work with state and business community partners to upgrade our telecommunication infrastructure and bring affordable highspeed broadband to the rural part of the parish.”

Seal ran for Parish President in 2019, winning 48 percent of the vote and losing to incumbent Ned Thomas by less than 500 votes.