Saturday, February 16, 2013

Survey Says Mayor Mitch Could Be Governor Mitch

In a week of polls, perhaps the most interesting one showed New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu beating all Republican challengers except Senator David Vitter, in a race to replace term-limited Governor Bobby Jindal.

There has not been much talk regarding Landrieu or Vitter seeking the governorship: Landrieu would need to run midway through his second term as Mayor and Vitter seems solidly entrenched in the Senate and would become the Senior Senator from Louisiana if Mitch’s sister, Mary, is defeated for re-election.
Mitch was Lt. Governor from 2003-2010 when he resigned to become the Mayor of New Orleans.

The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, shows Landrieu and Vitter in a dead heat with 44% of the vote each.
In a race between Landrieu and current Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne, Landrieu stays at 44% with 42% favoring Dardenne. Dardenne has been widely seen as the strongest potential Republican gubernatorial candidate. The poll did not test Landrieu’s strength against other potential Republican challengers like State Treasurer John Kennedy.

There has been speculation that Dardenne, along with Congressmen Bill Cassidy (R-Baton Rouge) and John Fleming (R-Minden), could oppose Mary Landrieu. Landrieu defeated Kennedy in 2008 by a 52-46% margin.
In the race to secure campaign dollars, Mary Landrieu as amassed $2.5 Million for her re-election bid, while Cassidy has $2 Million and Fleming $468,000, according to campaign finance reports.

Mitch Landrieu, who is up for re-election in 2014, has about $1 Million in his campaign account, while Kennedy has $2.3 Million and Dardenne has about $718,000.