Louisiana history will be made on Nov. 15 no matter who is voted into the Governor’s Mansion.
The selection of Kathleen Blanco, a Cajun female, or Bobby Jindal, a U.S.-born Indian, will mark the first time in Louisiana’s history that a white male will not be governor.
That topic, along with campaign endorsements, turnout and Louisiana’s future, was discussed at last night’s 2003 governor’s race analysis at the Old State Capitol.
Former Gov. Buddy Roemer and LSU Political Science Chair Wayne Parent highlighted the six-person panel that analyzed the Oct. 4 gubernatorial election and looked ahead to what could occur in the runoff election.
The diversity of the candidates was the most talked-about issue of the night, as this election goes against everything that Louisiana is accustomed to in a gubernatorial election.
“For the first time in 32 years there is no incumbent governor running and there is no Edwin Edwards running,” Roemer said.
In the October election, the Democratic party received 58 percent of the vote, with the Democratic big three – Blanco, Richard Ieyoub and Buddy Leach – accounting for 48 percent.
Parent said with Ieyoub and Leach already throwing their endorsement behind Blanco, the division of Randy Ewing’s vote will be a big factor in the election result.
Roemer also said the Ewing vote would be key to the election. In the October election Ewing received 9 percent of the total vote, and in order for Jindal to win the runoff, he will need to get a little more than half of that, Roemer said.
The large number of gubernatorial debates also was discussed by the panel.
Robert Goidel, director of public policy research at the Manship School, said the debates did not help any one candidate and may have even diluted the content of their speeches with repetitiveness.
Goidel said because debates do not help candidates, they should seriously consider not taking part in as many this time around.
Roemer disagreed with Goidel, saying the constituents are the most important part of this election.
“We the people would like to know what the candidates believe about certain issues,” Roemer said.
The runoff election between Jindal and Blanco will be on Nov. 15.