A stretch of highway in Cajun Country running from I-10/I-49 South to Raceland was named Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Highway at an unveiling ceremony in Lafayette last night featuring both the current and former Governors.
Franklin Representative Sam Jones as there and says it’s a fantastic way to honor one of the great Cajuns in state history.
“She’s just broken so many barriers in being the first female Governor to give young women like my daughter and others someone to look up to as a real trailblazer, and a pathfinder.”
Blanco served from 2004-2008, and has “made peace” with her battle against cancer that’s left her wheelchair bound.
Blanco was Governor during the Hurricane Katrina disaster and tumultuous two years afterwards. Jones says it’s taken awhile for the state to fully see the fruits of her recovery work, but…
“As history looks back on what she did and what she put together for the recovery, we’re really seeing it bloom fully now in New Orleans.”
Jones highlighted her work getting the Super Dome back in action for the Saints 2007 season.
Jones served in the Blano Administration during Katrina, and says he remembers seeing her national media slamming the Governor just days after the storm landed. When he tried to warn her about those attacks…
“She stopped, looked at me, and said, Sam I don’t give a damn about the next term, I have an obligation to the people that elected me for this term. That’s what ill always remember, she never lost sight of what her responsibility was.”
Blanco would not seek a second term, and drop out before the 2007 Governor’s primary vote.
