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Nagin, Landrieu to Run Off for Mayor of New Orleans
Mayor C. Ray Nagin campaigns at a stoplight on Election Day, as New Orleans voters went to the polls for the first time since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.
(By Alex Brandon -- Associated Press)
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Secretary of State Al Ater said it was hard to say if turnout was better or worse than typical because circumstances have changed so much, and because so many voters -- more than 20,000 -- cast ballots in early voting or by mail.
"We've never done anything like this before," he said. "I really don't have anything to gauge that with, but my gut is telling me turnout will be all right."
There is no more controversial figure in the race than Nagin, who elicits strong opinions from both blacks and whites.
Eddie Spiller voted for incumbent Nagin; his wife Peggy thought Nagin "lost his composure" during the storm when he cursed at the federal government. She voted for Landrieu.
"I just thought he was someone we could count on," she said of Nagin. "And he broke."
"I wanted to give him a second chance to see if he can bring the city back," Eddie Spiller said.
Several white and black voters who said they voted for Nagin in his first election said they have become disenchanted. Others, mostly black, agreed he had made mistakes but thought he should be reelected.
"I voted for Ray. He's not perfect, but who is?" said Shaun Lain, 37, one of those who had traveled from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta to vote. "At this point, we need consistency."
"I look past the racial slur," McGowan said, referring to Nagin's "chocolate" city remark. "I think his heart is in the right place."
She said she was leery of "what the other candidates want to do with the city."
The question of what a black mayor or white mayor might mean in terms of which neighborhoods are rebuilt, or who is welcomed back, was frequently cited by voters.
Matthew Mysing, 29, a project manager for a home improvement company, said he was not particularly offended by Nagin's chocolate reference. Mysing, who is white, said he voted for Landrieu. He acknowledged that the election had stirred racial anxieties.
"Well, brother, I'm a minority here," he said. "I'd like to feel this is my city, and I haven't felt that way."
