Katrina Still Dominates La. Election

Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., and his wife, Dr. Andrea Jefferson, acknowledge the crowd at his election night headquarters in New Orleans in this Nov. 7, 2006, file photo. Jefferson, the target of FBI raids, is set for a runoff to hold onto his seat and salvage his political career. (AP Photo/Bill Haber) (Bill Haber - AP)

NEW ORLEANS -- In post-Katrina Louisiana, the politics of the storm can overshadow even a bribery investigation.

Hurricane Katrina is again buffeting an election, this time a congressional race previously dominated by the federal investigation of eight-term incumbent U.S. Rep. William Jefferson.

A popular but pugnacious sheriff unleashed an attack this week on Jefferson's opponent, state Rep. Karen Carter, because she had called officials "inhumane" for stopping thousands of people from walking across a Mississippi River bridge to escape New Orleans after the storm.

Jefferson faces Carter, a fellow Democrat, in a runoff Saturday that will decide one of the nation's last unresolved elections for a U.S. House seat, its lateness tied to Louisiana's open multiparty primary system.

Carter, 37, is well-financed and politically connected. She's seeking to become the first black woman from Louisiana elected to Congress.

On Tuesday, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee railed against Carter at a news conference, charging she had "run her fat mouth" about racism to draw attention to herself.

Carter's comments were aired during Spike Lee's documentary on Katrina, "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts." In one segment Carter says: "There's no question that the officials there were wrong, absolutely wrong, and they need to be reprimanded accordingly. It was unjust, it was inhumane and it was unacceptable."

The sheriff said he was "incensed" by her comments and that he could not stomach the idea of having Carter represent his parish.

"She makes us look like a bunch of yahoos down here, a bunch of racists, that we kept black people out of Jefferson Parish," said Lee, who is Chinese.

After Katrina, police had to keep people from crossing the Crescent City Connection bridge to protect homes and businesses that had been left empty when Jefferson evacuated, Lee said.

Carter responded that the sheriff was "entitled to his opinions."

Until now, the congressional race has focused on the incumbent's ethics.