From Roll Call:
Louisiana will not hold its scheduled primaries Saturday because of the devastation and voter displacement caused by Hurricane Gustav earlier this week.
State election officials could decide as early as today when to reschedule the elections, and as of Wednesday there still was some hope of being able to hold the primaries on Sept. 13. Doing so would allow any required runoffs to take place on Oct. 4, the state’s currently scheduled runoff date.
Another possibility could be to hold all primaries on Oct. 4. That would push any required runoffs back to November and mean that some districts may not have a general election until December.
If Louisiana’s congressional elections are pushed back to December, that could be bad news for Democrats in LA-04, LA-06, and LA-07 — as a high African-American turnout inspired by Barack Obama is considered a key element of Dem chances here.
On the other hand, if Obama does win in November, the GOP’s hard-right base could be in such a state of depression and malaise that they might not be feeling pumped up about showing up for a December general election. (Shades of TX-23, anyone?)
The decision is up to Gov. Bobby Jindal.
McCain’s going to win the state by well over 10%. It’ll be much easier running these races when not fighting against the top of the ticket tide. And Obama’s going to be more popular after victory, allowing him to provide support to our candidates in these races if warranted.
We should be cheering for a delay.
And help Don Cazayoux right?