As New Orleans Mayoral Race Looms, Displaced Residents Urged to Vote Absentee

Qualifying in the race officially begins on Wednesday, with the primary election set for April 22. At least nine people have announced plans to enter the race. The election, which also will include the city council, had been delayed because of Hurricane Katrina.

“It’s going to come down to who is registered to vote absentee,” the African American Leadership Council's Ron Walters told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “Right now, the majority constituency in New Orleans is white.”

When he ran for mayor four years ago, Nagin, a former corporate executive, won with huge support from the city’s white community. He did not carry a majority of the black vote. The question now is whether black voters will support Nagin, who is pushing efforts to rebuild and secure areas where a majority of the city’s black residents lived before the storm.

“Most blacks still will hold Nagin responsible,” Walters said. “But he was immobilized. Still, voters will look to the person who is closest to them instead of state or federal officials.”

Mayoral candidate Tom Watson, a minister who formerly worked as an administrator with the City of New Orleans, said there were problems in New Orleans before Katrina hit.

“I’m running for mayor because someone has to step up and give voters a viable alternative,” Watson told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

Already, Watson said he has commitments for $200,000, and his campaign fundraisers are just beginning.

He said his campaign will include outreach to cities such as Houston and Atlanta where there are large numbers of New Orleans residents.

Still, many of those voters will have to vote absentee.

U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle said on Friday that Louisiana did not have to provide satellite polling places outside of the state to accommodate displaced voters.

The NAACP and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now had argued that a majority of the New Orleans residents still living outside of the city were poor to moderate income blacks and that they should be given every opportunity to participate in this crucial election.

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