louisiana governor

Republican Bobby Jindal, 36, will be the first nonwhite to hold the state's top spot since Reconstruction.
By Miguel Bustillo, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 21, 2007
Republican Bobby Jindal won election as Louisiana governor Saturday, setting a string of firsts and leaving no doubt that the state's voters strongly desire new leadership two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Jindal, 36, will be the nation's youngest sitting governor. The son of Indian immigrants, he will also be the first Indian American governor in U.S. history, and the first nonwhite to hold the job in Louisiana since Reconstruction.

The election of Jindal, who is a conservative, underscores the fast-fading fortunes of the Democratic Party in Louisiana after the hurricanes.

Under Louisiana's wide-open "jungle primary" format, Jindal had a chance Saturday to win the race outright if he could capture more than half the votes in a field of 12 candidates.

He did. With nearly all precincts counted, he held 54% of the vote.

The next closest competitor, Democrat Walter J. Boasso, had 18%. Independent John Georges had 14%; Democrat Foster Campbell had 13%.

It was Jindal's second try at the governorship. He was edged out in a runoff four years ago by Democrat Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, who did not seek reelection. Her post-Katrina performance has drawn heated criticism. Jindal has been representing Louisiana's 1st Congressional District since 2004.

This time, Jindal's campaign felt more like a coronation than a contested race.

The rise of Jindal, educated at Brown and Oxford universities, also suggested that Louisianians, who have often elected quirky politicians from the backwoods and bayous, may now be seeking something different.

Jindal has made a few stylistic concessions to suit the electorate: For instance, he goes by Bobby, though his given name is Piyush.

Democrats make up about half of the 2.8 million registered voters in Louisiana, outnumbering Republicans by nearly 2 to 1. But the number of registered Democrats has dropped by nearly 57,000 since the 2005 hurricanes. Residents have criticized the state government, which is dominated by Democrats, as incompetent and corrupt.

Jindal capitalized on that sentiment, making the fight to root out Louisiana's corruption a central theme of his campaign. One of his commercials portrayed his Democratic rivals as crooked clowns with cash coming out of their pockets.

No prominent Democrat stepped in to challenge Jindal, leaving Boasso and Campbell to divvy up their party's vote and providing an opening for Georges, a wealthy independent.

In the end, Jindal's rivals all took hard shots at the front- runner.

Georges tried to argue that Jindal's academic accomplishments were unfitting for Louisiana, bragging that "John Georges is not an intellectual."

Yet on Saturday, Louisiana voters flocked to the Oxford guy.
. Rep. Bobby Jindal, the Oxford-educated son of Indian immigrants who came to the U.S. decades ago to pursue the American dream, easily defeated 11 opponents to become Louisiana's first non-white governor since the 1870s.

Jindal, a 36-year-old Republican, will be the youngest state governor in the U.S. He had 53 percent with 625,036 votes with about 92 percent of the vote tallied. It was more than enough to win Saturday's election outright and avoid a Nov. 17 runoff.

"My mom and dad came to this country in pursuit of the American dream. And guess what happened. They found the American dream to be alive and well right here in Louisiana," he said to cheers and applause at his victory party.

His nearest competitors: Democrat Walter Boasso had 208,690 votes or 18 percent; Independent John Georges with 167,477 votes or 14 percent; and Democrat Foster Campbell with 151,101 or 13 percent. Eight candidates divided the rest.

"I'm asking all of our supporters to get behind our new governor," Georges said in a concession speech.

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The Oxford-educated Jindal had lost the governor's race four years ago to Gov. Kathleen Blanco. He won a congressional seat in conservative suburban New Orleans a year later but was widely believed to have his eye on the governor's mansion.

Blanco, a Democrat, opted not to run for re-election months ago after she was widely blamed for the state's slow response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

"My administration has begun readying for this change and we look forward to helping with a smooth transition," she said in a prepared statement. "I want to thank the people of Louisiana for the past four years, though there is still much work to do in my last few months as your governor."

Jindal, who takes office in January, pledged to fight corruption and rid the state of those "feeding at the public trough," revisiting a campaign theme.

"They can either go quietly or they can go loudly, but either way, they will go," he said, adding that he would call the state Legislature into special session to address ethics reform.

Political analysts said Jindal built up support as a sort of "buyer's remorse" from people who voted for Blanco last time and had second thoughts about that decision.

"I think the Jindal camp, almost explicitly, (wanted) to cast it this way: If you were able to revote, who would you vote for?" said Pearson Cross, a University of Louisiana at Lafayette political scientist.

Jindal has held a strong lead in the polls since the field of candidates became settled nearly two months ago.

But the two multimillionaires in the race ― Boasso, a state senator from St. Bernard Parish, and Georges, a New Orleans-area businessman ― poured millions of their own dollars into their campaigns to try to prevent Jindal's victory.

Campbell, a public service commissioner from Bossier Parish, had less money but ran on a singular plan: scrapping the state income tax on businesses and individuals and levying a new tax on oil and gas processed in Louisiana.

The race was one of the highest-spending in Louisiana history. Jindal alone raised $11 million (�.7 million), and Georges poured about $10 million (� million) of his personal wealth into his campaign war chest while Boasso plugged in nearly $5 million (�.5 million) of his own cash.

The victory marks a rare trip to statewide office for a minority in the South ― in a state that 16 years ago famously saw a former leader of the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke, in a runoff for governor. Duke lost that race.

Some black political leaders complained Saturday of problems at polls in New Orleans, where many people have moved around since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.

State Elections Commissioner Angie LaPlace said she had expected many complaints because a check of voters' addresses found that a "ton" had moved, and those whose mail is forwarded must vote in the precinct where they now get mail.

In India, Jindal's victory was the top story on television news. News channel CNN-IBN showed visitors congratulating relatives in the Jindal family's hometown of Maler Kotla in northern Punjab state.

Bobby Jindal has not visited his ancestral home for more than three decades ― but that has not hampered the joy in Maler Kotla. His family members were going to celebrate with the traditional Punjabi folk dance called the bhangra.

"You cannot imagine the joy we feel today," said Subhash Jindal, a cousin who runs a pharmacy in Maler Kotla. "Now we want him to become president next. If he can become a governor, then he can also be president."
Road to the World Series...Next Louisiana governor...Child abuse excuse

UNDATED (AP) It's come down to the wire. Boston crushed Cleveland Saturday night to even up the series and force a deciding game seven. The winner goes on to face Colorado in the World Series.

CUMMING, Ga. (AP) The White House says it's reviewing a request to declare northern Georgia a disaster area because of a major drought. The governor wants Georgia to be exempt from rules about reserving water for endangered species. They also want the Army Corps or Engineers to curb the amount of water it siphons off from Georgia reservoirs for Alabama and Florida.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Congressman Bobby Jindal will be the next governor of Louisiana. Incumbent Kathleen Blanco says her office is looking forward to helping with a "smooth transition." Jindal won more than half the vote in Saturday's election against 11 opponents to avoid a runoff.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani says he'll need the help of party members in Florida to "save" the U.S. from Democrat Hillary CLinton. Giuliani and other GOP frontrunners spoke to party activists Saturday night in Orlando.

EASTON, Pa. (AP) A Pennsylvania man has told a shocked judge that he punched and kicked his girlfriend's two-year-old son because he's, quote, "not a morning person." Juan Arreola pleaded guilty to charges of hurting the child and could get more than 20 years in prison. He's also been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Democratic Governors
Association (DGA) Chair Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius today congratulated
the candidates who ran in the Louisiana Primary.
"I congratulate Bobby Jindal for winning today's Primary," Gov.
Sebelius said. "Walter Boasso and Foster Campbell ran admirable campaigns
and clearly demonstrated their passion for helping the people of Louisiana.
I congratulate them and hope they continue to serve."
DGA Executive Director Nathan Daschle said, "We always knew that it was
going to be difficult to catch up to an opponent who had been running for
this office for four years. Our candidates ran strong campaigns, and they
deserve to be commended for their tenacious fight on behalf of all
Louisianans." He added, "The story of this year is Democrats running
competitive races deep in Bush country, and we are looking forward to
unseating Republican incumbents in Kentucky and Mississippi."
Gov. Sebelius concluded by thanking Gov. Kathleen Blanco for her
service. "In choosing not to seek re-election, Governor Kathleen Blanco has
been able to focus on recovery efforts without politics getting in the
way," she said. "Her selfless decision and her years of public service
illustrate her commitment to strengthening Louisiana, especially during the
most challenging time in the state's history. I join my fellow Democratic
governors in wishing her well as she enters the next phase of her life."