Oops..Mayor Nagin Deserves All the Props

Even we fell for the hype. Ray Nagin wasn't going to be able to secure a second term with the loss of a significant portion of the African American population of New Orleans after Katrina. Winning less than 10% of the white vote in the April election and seeing his run-off opponent Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu capture 24% of the African American vote the mountain seemed to steep to climb.

But tonight the Mayor shocked us all (www.blackpolicy.org/black-races.php), winning a second term by a razor thin margin of 5,329 votes with all precincts reporting.

Mayor Nagin, according to AP reports, won the predominately African American precincts and the Lieutenant Governor won the majority white ones. However, it appears that African Americans rallied to the Mayor while he cut into Landrieu's white support by doing well in the white Uptown section of New Orleans.

Ray Nagin was able to do what everyone thought Mitch Landrieu would do and that was to assemble a new coalition of white and African American voters to lead the "new" New Orleans during its reconstruction phase.

That new phase will now be a seamless transition with the Mayor who lead them through the storm guiding the Crescent City into its new future.

A future many pundits didn't think Ray Nagin would see as mayor, but he deserves all the props.