NATCHEZ — Former Ferriday Mayor Gene Allen will face political newcomer Joe Sontoyo in an April 21 runoff to be the next mayor of Ferriday.

Allen, a Democrat, said he thought he had a good chance of winning outright in the primary, but he’s definitely pleased he made it to the runoff.

“I really did expect to win the first primary; we worked hard to win the election,” Allen said.

“But we’re going to keep going to move this city forward,’ Allen said.

Sontoyo, a Democrat, said he was very excited to learn he made the runoff.

“It’s my first time around to be in a political race, and I’m in the runoff — hey, what can I say,” Sontoyo said.

Sontoyo, the current Ferriday fire chief, said he feels like the city can do better and he needs the rest of the town who didn’t make it to the poll to come out and vote for him.

“I just want to say I appreciate every vote that I got,” he said.

Allen had 46 percent of the vote and Sontoyo had 30 percent.

To win a race in the primary, candidates must earn 50 percent of the vote plus one vote.

Mayoral candidate Justin “The Preacher” Conner had 18 percent of the vote, and Johnnie Brown had 6 percent of the vote. A total of 1,199 votes were cast in Ferriday’s three precincts.

Allen said he is determined to help move the city forward and will work hard to convince voters he’s the man for the job for the next month.

He said he will let voters know he wants to work on recreation, public streets and “a lot of things we want to do,” Allen said.

“And we’ve got to complete that water project that’s been plaguing the city for (approximately) 30 years.”

Sontoyo said he enjoyed watching returns on TV, where he monitored results at Country Cafe.

“We just had a bite to eat and watching it on TV and visited with friends,” Sontoyo said.

Allen said he watched results from his office on Alabama Street with 150 family, friends and supporters.

Allen said he was the only candidate that ran on experience of the mayor’s office, but he appreciated the manor in which Sontoyo and other candidates conducted their campaigns.

“Everybody ran a good, clean campaign,” Allen said. of the vote. A total of 1,199 votes were cast in Ferriday’s three precincts.