Sunday, October 21, 2007

Republican Jindal Elected Louisiana Governor


From The New Orleans Times-Picayune ~ In a campaign that had the air of both inevitable and the historical, Republican Congressman Bobby Jindal was elected governor of Louisiana Saturday, claiming the electoral prize that eluded him four years ago.

By winning more than 50 percent of the primary vote against a field of 12 candidates, Jindal became the first candidate to win an open gubernatorial seat since Louisiana adopted its nonpartisan primary system in 1975. Buddy Roemer was elected governor in 1987 when incumbent Edwin Edwards dropped out after trailing in the primary. Jindal also is the first member of an ethnic minority to become the state's chief executive since Reconstruction.


The 36-year-old Jindal becomes the nation's youngest governor and the first chief executive of any state who is of Indian-American descent. When he officially takes over from Gov. Kathleen Blanco in January he will be the second-youngest person to serve in that office after Huey P. Long, who was 35 when voters first elected him in 1928.

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