Jefferson Weathers Scandal, Wins Re-election in Louisiana
By Greg Giroux
Louisiana Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson — burdened by a highly publicized federal investigation into whether he took bribes — nonetheless won Saturday’s runoff election in Louisiana’s 2nd District, and even appears to have defeated Democratic state Rep. Karen Carter by a comfortable margin.
Carter conceded defeat at 10:20 p.m. local (Central) time, a little more than two hours after the polls closed in the New Orleans-based district.
Jefferson’s win for a ninth House term was an astonishing act of political survival, though the congressman’s legal situation remains highly tenuous. Carter had rallied support from many national and state Democratic leaders who turned against Jefferson because of his ethics controversies.
With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Jefferson led Carter by 57 percent to 43 percent in the 2nd, a heavily Democratic black-majority district that takes in most of New Orleans and some close-in suburbs.
The one thing certain going into the runoff was that the district would continue to be represented by an African-American Democrat, as both Jefferson and Carter fit that description.
The unusual Saturday runoff election was required because no candidate running in the Nov. 7 “blanket” primary received an outright majority of all votes cast. Jefferson placed first and Carter finished second on an all-candidate, all-party ballot that included 11 other candidates; state rules send the top two finishers to the runoff, regardless of their party affiliations.
Though Jefferson ran ahead of the field in that first-round primary — which coincided with the national Election Day under Louisiana’s unusual rules — he took only 30 percent of the vote.
This suggested that Jefferson was having trouble overcoming allegations that he accepted bribes in exchange for favorable legislative action. Two former associates of Jefferson have pleaded guilty to bribing him, an FBI affidavit said that agents found $90,000 in marked bills in Jefferson’s freezer during a 2005 raid, and many news stories about the situation have stated that the congressman will eventually be indicted.
Carter, who took 22 percent of the first-round vote, stated that the allegations had eviscerated Jefferson’s ability to serve the district. She noted that House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California, who will ascend to Speaker in January when Democrats claim the House majority they won in this year’s elections, stripped Jefferson of his seat on the influential Ways and Means Committee after the investigation became public last spring.
But Jefferson has denied wrongdoing and has not been indicted, and his allies said that the congressman should have the presumption of innocence.
Despite Jefferson’s subpar showing on Nov. 7, local political analysts refused to characterize the incumbent as a sure loser in the runoff. Jefferson has a long public service career that includes 16 years in the House and more than a decade in the state Senate. He touted his ability to bring federal funds to the district — and he argued that it would be imprudent for voters to reject his seniority at a time when Louisiana is seeking substantial federal assistance following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina last year.
Jefferson secured some important endorsements, including those of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Democratic state Sen. Derrick Shepherd, who finished third in the Nov. 7 balloting. Jefferson had backed Nagin in the mayor’s own runoff election this spring, which he won over Democratic Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu.
Shepherd backed Jefferson in part because he said Carter was too liberal on some social issues. Jefferson dominated the vote Saturday in the Jefferson Parish precincts where Shepherd ran strongly on Nov. 7. (Parishes are Louisiana’s equivalent to counties.)
Carter supporters argued that Shepherd’s maneuver was motivated purely by self-interest, suggesting that he still wants the seat for himself and wanted to block Carter from establishing what might have been a long-term hold on the seat.
But the challenger’s problems in Jefferson Parish went beyond Shepherd’s alliance with the incumbent.
Carter’s home base is in the city of New Orleans and Orleans Parish. She was not well known in Jefferson Parish when the campaign started, and many of those voters who did know of her did not have a favorable impression: She angered some parish residents with remarks she made in a Spike Lee documentary about Hurricane Katrina that were sharply critical of Jefferson Parish officials concerning their handling of evacuation efforts during the catastrophe. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee blasted Carter during the runoff campaign.
Carter received just 8 percent of the Jefferson vote on Nov. 7 and 29 percent of the parish vote on Saturday. She also trailed Jefferson in Orleans Parish, which, combined with her big deficit in Jefferson Parish, gave Jefferson an unexpectedly easy win.
It is unlikely that the House Democratic leadership will look more kindly on Jefferson, despite his re-election; Republicans, seeking to offset some of the damage their own party incurred in the 2006 elections because of a series of ethics controversies, are likely to hammer the Democrats over Jefferson’s re-election. But the House may be constrained in investigating Jefferson’s behavior because of the potential for interfering with the probe being conducted by federal prosecutors.
Nevertheless, the completion of the runoff campaign now makes official the Democrats’ hold on 232 seats in the 110th Congress, an overall net gain of 29 seats.
The outcomes of two additional races for Republican-held seats are still up for grabs. Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla faces a runoff election Tuesday in southwestern Texas’ 23rd District, and Democrats hope their nominee, former Rep. Ciro D. Rodriguez, can pull off an upset. The Nov. 7 results in Florida's 13th District — where Republican Vern Buchanan was certified as the winner by 369 votes — are being contested by Democratic nominee Christine Jennings, who alleges widespread voting machine irregularities.
© 2006 Congressional Quarterly
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