Louisiana Governor's Race Sure to Set Precedent
Thursday, November 13, 2003
One way or the other, Louisiana is going to end up with a first following Saturday's gubernatorial election.
The Pelican State (search) has a historic choice: electing its first woman governor ever, the current Democratic Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco (search), or the first non-white governor since Reconstruction, Indian-American Bobby Jindal (search).
"I am currently in this historic place because no woman has ever gotten this close to the governor's office," Blanco said.
"It's about being red white and blue ... We all want the same thing for our children," said Jindal.
Louisiana voters go to the polls Saturday for a runoff election between the two, who ranked the highest out of a field of 18 in Louisiana's primary election last month.
Jindal is wrapping up his campaign with a 40-hour "Hit the Ground Running" tour that got started Thursday morning in New Orleans, was running all through the night and next day and ending at midnight Friday in Baton Rouge.
Blanco was rounding out her campaign with an eight-city "Bring Back Our Jobs, Our Children and Our Hope" tour that started Thursday at McNeese State University in Lake Charles.
The two candidates are currently polling in a statistical dead heat and continue to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars right until the bitter end. Since Nov. 7, Blanco has raised $412,000, of which $81,000 has come from the state Democratic Party for advertising, mailings and phone banks.
Jindal has brought in $394,000 in the last week, with $25,000 from the state Republican Party, and several thousand more from New Orleans Saints (search) owner Tom Benson and the lobbying firm owned by Mississippi governor-elect Haley Barbour.
Both have received mirror donations from big companies with interests in Louisiana, including Dow Chemical Company (search), which gave $3,000 to each, and Northrup Grumman (search) defense contractor, which distributed $2,500 per candidate.
The latest numbers show Jindal with 46 percent and Blanco with 42 percent, while 12 percent of voters who went to the polls last month were undecided.
But the rolling poll by Verne Kennedy's Marketing Research Institute of Pensacola, Fla., which has added up voter responses over several nights of polling, shows an ever-changing playing field, says Blanco's campaign, which points out that the latest polls put her above Jindal by 3 points with 15 percent undecided.
"Ultimately, Louisiana people are very accustomed to putting party aside," Blanco said, adding that "in the last hours of decision, and looking into the heart of the person," she believes voters will choose her to lead the state.
A conservative and former Health and Human Services assistant secretary, Jindal is attracting the vote of Catholics in Cajun country, Protestants in the northern part of the state and urban blacks in New Orleans. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (search), a Democrat, endorsed Jindal.
"African-American voters are saying it is time to do things differently. Every other ethnic group in America basically leverages its vote between Democrats and Republicans. We are the only group that has not done that and it seems we've gotten the least out of the deal," Nagin said.
Jindal also receives overwhelming support from white males.
"I think it speaks well for Louisiana," Jindal said. "It shows we are moving beyond party labels. We're moving beyond the name-calling that so often dominates politics. We're actually looking at the issues."
Blanco and Jindal don't stand too far from each other on the issues. They both oppose abortion rights and gun control.
Blanco supports the use of school vouchers only in the most dire of cases, such as "disaster relief." Jindal has backed the use of vouchers for children in failing schools, earning him the support of All Children Matter (search), a Michigan-based organization that wants public dollars to go to school vouchers to move children to private schools. The group is running two radio ads, one running statewide, and one running on black-targeted stations in New Orleans.
Still, in a state where the former governor, Edwin Edwards, is still in prison, and fierce campaigns usually see candidates head straight for their opponent's jugular, this election has been relatively bloodless.
"We have two candidates with very clean records. No one has been indicted, they are honest upstanding people and that runs against the history of Louisiana politics," said Susan Howell, a professor at the University of New Orleans.
Fox News' Mike Tobin and The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
