On Saturday, Louisiana held its first round of statewide elections as part of its “unique” (read: bizarre) campaign system. The state holds a round of elections on the first Saturday in October featuring a full slate of candidates from both parties (no primaries). If no candidate wins a pure majority, the top two enter a run-off held in mid-November.
Looking over the results, it appears Democrats did very well in a state that is often evenly divided.
With incumbent two-term Gov. Mike Foster (R) unable to seek re-election due to term limits, six main candidates vied for two run-off slots. The results from Saturday:
Bobby Jindal (R) — 33%
Kathleen Blanco (D) — 18%
Richard Ieyoub (D) — 16%
Claude Leach (D) — 14%
Randy Ewing (D) — 9%
‘Hunt’ Downer (R) — 6%
To be sure, Jindal is generating a lot of attention, not only because he garnered the most support over the weekend, but because he’s an Indian American winning conservative support in a state where a majority of white men supported a KKK leader for governor in 1991.
Nevertheless, no one should look at the results and assume Jindal has the governor’s race wrapped up. You may notice that Blanco finished 15 percentage points behind Jindal, but she was battling three other Democrats in the race. In fact, with Dems as four of the top five vote getters, 57% of voters supported Dem candidates at the polls.
The results also looked good beyond the top race. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D) brother, Mitch Landrieu (D), won the race for lieutenant governor with 52%, so there won’t be a run-off next month. And Democrat Charles Foti (D) won the race for Louisiana attorney general, defeating Suzanne Terrelll (R), the GOP’s unsuccessful nominee for U.S. Senate last year.
Clinton carried Louisiana twice before Gore lost it in 2000. If Saturday’s results are any indication, maybe a strong Dem candidate with appeal in the South can help bring the state back to supporting Dems in ’04.