New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell
A new poll on the recall effort against New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell shows over half of those surveyed say she needs to go. University of New Orleans political science professor Dr. Ed Chervenak conducted to poll. He says the results were mostly similar regardless of gender, party affiliation or race.
“The fact that these results do transcend race and also gender…so it seems to be fairly broad-based in terms of people’s unhappiness with the direction of the city,” Chervenak says.
Cantrell said the recall is a “right wing conspiracy” to get rid of her, but the numbers don’t seem to bear that out.
The recall petition was filed with the Secretary of State’s office after Mayor Cantrell appeared in court in support of a teen carjacker; offering little comfort to the victims. She is also under fire for lavish travel arrangements for business trips at taxpayer expense. And there is also the skyrocketing violent crime rate. Chervenak says respondents to this poll favor recalling her now, but…
“…public opinion polls are just a snapshot in time. All they do is reflect what people are thinking at that particular time, and events can change. Circumstances can change.”
The poll surveyed just over 400 registered Orleans parish voters, and showed 55-percent want her recalled. Over 64-percent say the city is headed in a bad direction. Chervenak says the poll is just a “snapshot” of how voters feel right now, and Cantrell could change those feelings before the deadline arrives to collect over 53-thousand recall signatures.
“One of the things Mayor Cantrell is going to have to do is change perceptions of her performance in office, and so maybe she responds in a way that does change those perceptions,” Chervenak says.
Recall organizers have 5 months and two weeks to collect the necessary signatures. They have collected over 3000 so far. Recall efforts in large voter areas have historically met little success in Louisiana.
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