Mitch Landrieu wins New Orleans mayor's race

[Swamp Rat]

Mitch Landrieu wins New Orleans mayor's race
By Michelle Krupa, The Times-Picayune
February 06, 2010, 10:09PM
By Michelle Krupa and Frank Donze
Rusty Costanza / The Times-Picayune

Mitch Landrieu and his his father, former New Olreans mayor
Moon Landrieu, hug at the Roosevelt Hotel on Saturday as
Mitch Landrieu's mother, Verna Landrieu, left, watches.


Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu appears to have routed five major challengers in today's mayoral primary, riding a sense of regret among voters who rejected him four years ago and extraordinary biracial support to claim a rare first-round victory. With 90 of the city's 366 precincts counted, Landrieu had 64 percent of the vote. His closest challenger, businessman Troy Henry, had 15 percent.

When he takes office May 6, Landrieu will become the city's first white chief executive since his father, Moon Landrieu, left the job in 1978. Early analysis shows that Mitch Landrieu's victory owed to widespread crossover voting by African-Americans, who make up two-thirds of the city's residents.

Making his third bid for City Hall's top job, Landrieu picked up enough votes to avoid a runoff that appeared to be a near-certainty just two months ago. So definitive was his win that political pundits declared Landrieu the victor just a half-hour after the polls closed, with the first of his opponents conceding before 9 p.m.

Landrieu's most formidable opponents included management consultant Troy Henry, a first-time candidate who pumped about $500,000 of his own money into his bid, and businessman John Georges, who invested at least $3.4 million from his personal fortune.

(snip)

Landrieu's win Saturday marks the first time in the city's modern history that a mayoral race not featuring an incumbent was settled in the primary. The current open-primary system, in which the top two finishers regardless of party advance to a runoff, dates to 1975. Before that, party primaries and runoffs preceded a general election, which pitted the party standard-bearers.

(snip)

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/02/mitch_landrieu_wins_new_orlean.html

[aquart]

1. Well, there's a family that isn't dying out anytime soon.