Colvard wins District Attorney race
Matt Colvard will remain in the district attorney’s office, this time with the backing of voters.
Colvard won a competitive three-way race for district attorney of the 31st Judicial District on Thursday, defeating Lisa Zavogiannis and Randal Gilliam. Colvard finished with 4,020 votes, or 38.7 percent, while Gilliam received 3,222 and Zavogiannis finished with 3,145, according to the Warren County results combined with the Van Buren County totals.
The victory gives Colvard an elected term after he initially entered the office by appointment. Colvard became interim district attorney following the resignation of Chris Stanford in late 2025. Gov. Bill Lee subsequently appointed Colvard to fill the vacancy.
Colvard established his advantage during early voting in Warren County, receiving 1,929 votes compared to 1,637 for Gilliam and 1,421 for Zavogiannis. He continued to run well enough on Election Day to maintain the lead while Zavogiannis made her biggest push in Van Buren County.
Colvard finished with 3,387 votes in Warren County and added 633 in Van Buren County. Gilliam collected 2,771 in Warren County and 451 in Van Buren County, while Zavogiannis had 2,408 in Warren County before winning Van Buren County with 737 votes.
The Van Buren County result was particularly important for Zavogiannis, who entered the night with a history of performing well there. In 2014, she overcame a seven-vote loss to Tim Pirtle in Warren County by winning Van Buren County 1,091-759 to capture the district attorney’s race.
This time, however, Colvard’s Warren County advantage was too large to overcome.
The election also completed another chapter in Zavogiannis’ lengthy history with the office. She was first elected district attorney in 2006 and reelected in 2014 before losing to Stanford in 2022. Stanford defeated Zavogiannis 5,151-3,566 in Warren County four years ago and also won Van Buren County 1,078-955.
Gilliam entered Thursday as the wild card in the three-candidate field, having neither Colvard’s current position in the office nor Zavogiannis’ previous district attorney election history. He ultimately finished second, edging Zavogiannis by 77 votes districtwide.
With three independent candidates on the ballot, a majority was not required. Colvard took advantage of the split field, winning with just under 39 percent of the vote and finishing 798 votes ahead of Gilliam and 875 ahead of Zavogiannis.
