H/T RedState.com
New Orleans voters will go to the polls today to pick the first new mayor since Hurricane Katrina made its indelible mark on the Crescent City.
But the election, in which a host of other major offices are also up for grabs, has been overshadowed by another monumental event: the New Orleans Saints will make history in the team's first-ever Super Bowl appearance the very next day.
Eleven mayoral candidates, vying to succeed term-limited Ray Nagin, are competing with a variety of distractions, including nearly wall-to-wall media coverage of the football team's every move in Miami, preparations for Super Bowl parties at homes, bars and other locations throughout the city and a full slate of Carnival parades this weekend.
The polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
Whether Saints fever bolsters turnout or diminishes it is anybody's guess.
This much is known: A record-breaking number of New Orleans voters decided to take care of their civic duty early and have already cast ballots in the municipal elections. By Friday afternoon, the Secretary of State had already counted 17,161 ballots, cast in person at the city's three early voting locations or sent in by mail.
The marquee matchup is the mayor's race. Six candidates emerged as contenders after two big names dropped out around New Year's, largely as the result of the late entry of Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, the 2006 runoff loser. First to drop out was insurance executive Leslie Jacobs. Then state Sen. Ed Murray, the best-known black candidate at the time, shocked political observers -- and the African-American political establishment in general -- with his sudden withdrawal.
That set off a convulsion in the city's traditional political landscape, as local pundits and national media outlets alike began speculating that New Orleans could elect a white mayor for the first time in 32 years, Pre-election polls have shown Landrieu with a sizable lead, with the rest of the candidates scrambling for enough votes to claim a place in a runoff.
Along with Landrieu, businessmen Troy Henry and John Georges have enjoyed far the largest campaign war chests, helping them disseminate their message through heavily rotated television and radio ads. The other major candidates -- lawyer Rob Couhig, fair-housing advocate James Perry and former Judge Civil Court Nadine Ramsey -- have all struggled to raise money, though all six of the major candidates have gamely touted their platforms at an unprecedented number of debates and campaign forums in a short but intense election season.. |
Rep. Bobby Jindal coasted to a first-round victory in the state's gubernatorial primary late last night and made history as the nation's first governor-elect of Indian-American descent. At 36, the two-term Republican congressman also will be the country's youngest governor when he takes office in January. Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, a fellow Republican, turns 37 next month.