New Orleans mayoral vote split on racial lines

Incumbents hold their own
Some, however, were surprised that incumbents fared well almost across the board, winning their elections outright or qualifying for runoffs after months of speculation that anger over the city’s handling of the hurricane would cost some their jobs.

“It was normal, natural to expect some such expression” of frustration against current officeholders after Hurricane Katrina, Stonecipher said. “Instead, we got the opposite.”

Nagin lost support under criticism of his post-Katrina leadership and some of his off-the-cuff remarks. Business leaders, who supported him in his 2002 run, largely lined up behind Forman, chief executive of the Audubon Nature Institute, and other trailing candidates.

Forman, who captured 17 percent of the vote, had not endorsed anyone by Sunday. Many conservatives dislike the Landrieu family, so neither candidate in the run-off was likely to win over all the Forman voters, political observers said.

Landrieu has held office in Louisiana for nearly two decades and is the brother of Sen. Mary Landrieu. His father, Moon Landrieu, was the last white mayor of New Orleans in the 1970s but is well-liked in the black community for his decision to open high-ranking jobs to black professionals at City Hall.

Analyzing the turnout
No major problems were reported at polling places, but the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Sunday the low overall turnout should be a mandate to do more to encourage participation among voters unable to return since Katrina turned neighborhoods into debris fields.

Jackson said the election will be challenged in court; he and other critics have said the city should have set up out-of-state satellite polling stations, in evacuee hubs such as Houston and Atlanta, to encourage voter turnout.

Stonecipher, however, said the turnout may not be a sign of disenfranchisement as much as an indication that many registered voters don’t plan to return to New Orleans.

“The turnout really does speak to the issue of which and how many New Orleanians are still New Orleanians,” he said.

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