Via the AP: Indian immigrants’ son new La. governor

U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal easily defeated 11 opponents and became the state’s first nonwhite governor since Reconstruction, decades after his parents moved to the state from India to pursue the American dream.

Jindal, a 36-year-old Republican, will be the nation’s youngest governor. He had 53 percent with 625,036 votes with about 92 percent of the vote tallied. It was more than enough to win Saturday’s election outright and avoid a Nov. 17 runoff.

Given the late decision of Governor Blanco not to run, and the commensurate lack of a strong Democratic candidate in the race, it was no surprise that Jindal won. However, it is almost always a mild surprise when a candidate in Louisiana wins on the first ballot, as the rules in LA require 50% to win, and failing that a run-off takes place. With 11 other opponents, the math is often against a clear-cut win, especially with two other high-spending candidates, both angling for a run-off:

the two multimillionaires in the race — Boasso, a state senator from St. Bernard Parish, and Georges, a New Orleans-area businessman — poured millions of their own dollars into their campaigns to try to prevent Jindal’s victory.

In the end, they managed 18% and 14% respectively.

And before anyone gets too hyper about the race telling us anything about national trends (a hobby that pundits all stripes enjoy, it seems), this race was very much about Katrina and the way Blanco (who had beated Jindal to win the office in 2024) handled the situation:

Political analysts said Jindal built up support as a sort of “buyer’s remorse” from people who voted for Blanco last time and had second thoughts about that decision. Blanco was widely criticized for the state’s response to Hurricane Katrina and she announced months ago that she would not seek re-election.

It is interesting that the state that once feature David Duke as a prominent candidate for Governor now has elected a man of Indian descent to be its chief executive.