New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is now the subject of a recall petition; filed last week with the Secretary of State’s office. To get a recall on a ballot, organizers will need to collect legitimate signatures from 20-percent of Orleans Parish registered voters within six months; about 53-thousand people. UNO political science professor Ed Chernevak says that could be pretty difficult.
“It is a tall order, and they’re going to need to collect more than the 53-thousand…because there will be some duplications. There will be some people who are not registered voters,” Chervenak says.
Historically in Louisiana, recall petitions have met with little success. Chervenak says he gives the effort to recall Mayor Cantrell about a 3-out-of-5 chance of success. He says morale in the Crescent City HAS been very low.
“People feel that things are kind of falling apart. That the mayor’s priorities are misplaced…and I can see why there is a recall effort. The question is how successful can they be?”
Often a recall effort can serve as a wake-up call to a public official; triggering a change in policy or behavior. Does Chervernak think that could happen with Mayor Cantrell?
“The mayor seems pretty set in her ways. She feels that what she’s doing is the correct path, and so…she may just decide to continue on the path that she’s on.”
Petitioners have six months to collect the 53-thousand signatures needed to put a recall on a New Orleans ballot. They’ll also need a few thousand extras, to offset any disqualified names.
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