Posted on 10/21/2007 5:08:03 AM PDT by abb
Unable to withstand the fallout from two Katrina-related prosecutions, Attorney General Charles Foti narrowly missed a runoff that will leave the former Orleans criminal sheriff out of public life for the first time in three decades.
Foti fell short of second place in a three-man field, with Republican Royal Alexander, a Shreveport lawyer, emerging to face primary leader James "Buddy" Caldwell, a Democrat and longtime district attorney from Tallulah. The two will meet in a battle sure to be vitriolic, judging from the increasingly caustic tone of the campaign leading up to Saturday's vote.
Another longtime statewide official, Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, survived the first round of voting, but the 72-year-old Democrat must endure four more weeks of campaigning against a well-financed Republican challenger, state Rep. Michael Strain of Covington, in his quest for an eighth term.
Incomplete returns showed Odom in the lead. Two other Republican challengers, Wayne Carter of Zachary and Don Johnson of Transylvania, finished a distant third and fourth.
The two races have been the most hotly contested battles on the statewide ballot. They stood out as part of the Louisiana Republican Party's push to build on recent statewide victories and take advantage of GOP standard-bearer Bobby Jindal's triumphant campaign for governor.
In its bid to take charge in a state long dominated by Democrats, the GOP has already guaranteed itself control of at least four of the seven statewide offices, led by Jindal's reclaiming of the Governor's Mansion from Democrat Kathleen Blanco. The two runoffs set up an opportunity for them to claim six of the seven.
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(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
When your toilet is stuck, always flush twice.
He's a long way from Romania, otherwise.
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