elections

Freeman sweeps Audubon, university neighborhoods in District 98 runoff win

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To cinch her victory in the District 98 runoff on Saturday, Aimee Adatto Freeman consolidated her base in the Audubon and university-area neighborhoods to sweep every precinct between Jefferson and Carrollton avenues. District-wide, Freeman won 42 precincts on Saturday to Kea Sherman’s 10. Freeman won all but one of the 37 where she had placed first in October’s crowded six-person primary, adding five where Carlos Zervigon had led and one where Ravi Sangisetty had placed first. Sherman held on to all six of those where she led in the primary in Freret and west Carrollton, and added four more nearby: two where Zervigon had led, one of Sangisetty’s, and one where Freeman had led in October. The bellwether precinct — where Freeman won 57.8 percent of the vote, most similar to her total across the district — was Ward 13 Precinct 15 in Broadmoor (along Claiborne between Jefferson and Napoleon).

elections

Landry picked up nearly every precinct led by Dinkler to win District 91

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The October primary for the District 91 seat in the state House of Representatives was nearly a three-way tie in votes cast between Robert McKnight, Mandie Landry and third-place finisher Carling Dinkler. To secure her victory in the runoff Saturday night, Landry picked up nearly every precinct where Dinkler had led — ultimately holding McKnight to the same number of precincts where he led in the primary. In October, McKnight led in 23 precincts of the district’s 53 voting precincts. Dinkler led in 17; Landry led in 12 and Dinkler and Landry tied exactly in one. On Saturday, Landry won 30 of the 53.

elections

Landry, Freeman win open seats representing Uptown New Orleans in state legislature

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Political newcomers Mandie Landry and Aimee Adatto Freeman will join newly re-elected Gov. John Bel Edwards in Baton Rouge next year, after each won competitive runoffs Saturday to represent Uptown New Orleans in the state House of Representatives. Landry, a lawyer who has represented pro-choice advocacy groups, won 53 percent of the vote in District 91 in the runoff against fellow lawyer Robert McKnight, an attorney with the Orleans Public Defenders. District 91 — held by term-limited State Rep. Walt Leger — represents a ribbon of Uptown that stretches from Hollygrove and Gert Town down through parts of Central City and Milan to the Irish Channel and Lower Garden District. Freeman, an adjunct professor at Tulane University’s business school, won 57 percent of the vote in District 98 over Kea Sherman, a small-business attorney. District 98 — held by state Rep. Neil Abramson, who is also term-limited — is nestled in the Riverbend roughly between the Jefferson Parish line and Napoleon Avenue, and including the Carrollton, Broadmoor, Audubon, University and Freret neighborhoods.

elections

Freeman’s strength in Audubon neighborhoods buoyed her first-place finish in District 98

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While the crowded District 98 race was as competitive as expected — with none of the seven candidates garnering even a third of the overall vote — Aimee Adatto Freeman led with large margins in nearly all the 14th Ward precincts around Audubon and the universities to finish first overall. Her three closest competitors — Kea Sherman, Ravi Sangisetty and Carlos Zervigon — all won a few precincts around the borders of District 98 as they battled for second place, according to an analysis of election results from the Secretary of State’s office. Sherman ultimately edged out Sangisetty and Zervigon to face Freeman in the Nov. 16 primary. Freeman won every precinct except one in the conservative-leaning 14th Ward (between Jefferson Avenue and Broadway Street).

elections

Neighborhood-level vote tallies show why District 91 was so close between McKnight, Landry and Dinkler

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Although District 91’s vote total overall was nearly a three-way tie, an analysis of how each precinct voted shows that Robert McKnight secured his first-place finish by winning the most precincts of any candidate. Mandie Landry trailed him by only 18 votes and secured her place in the runoff, meanwhile, by posting strong second-place showings in nearly every precinct where McKnight or third-place finisher Carling Dinkler led. McKnight — a public defender who has made criminal-justice reform a centerpiece of his campaign — built his lead with strong performances in 23 precincts from Hollygrove through Gert Town, Broadmoor and Central City, 15 of which he won outright with 50 to 60 percent of the vote. Dinkler actually won a plurality in slightly more precincts than Landry — 17 (four of which he won outright) to her 12. Despite leading in fewer districts, Landry surpassed Dinkler’s vote total by coming in a close second in all but three of the 40 precincts led by either McKnight or Dinkler — avoiding any of the single-digit showings that McKnight and Dinkler posted in some of the districts each other won.

elections

Video: District 91 and 98 forums, moderated by Reps. Walt Leger and Neil Abramson

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The Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Advocacy Center hosted a debate for the candidates seeking to be elected in Louisiana’s 91st and 98th House Districts on Thursday, Sept. 26. The candidates were questioned by moderators who know the job well; they’ve been representing the Uptown districts in the state House for the past decade. Term-limited District 91 state Rep. Walt Leger III, D-New Orleans, moderated the forum for the four candidates seeking his seat: Carling Dinkler, Mandie Landry, Robert McKnight and Pepper Bowen Roussel. All the House District 91 candidates are Democrats.

elections

Two candidates withdraw from Senate District 5 race; one challenger to Karen Carter Peterson remains

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Two candidates have withdrawn from the election for Senate District 5, leaving only a single challenger to incumbent Sen. Karen Carter Peterson. Ronald Brown Jr. of Metairie and “Fox Rich” Richardson have both withdrawn from the race, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office. Allen Borne Jr., a Democrat from New Orleans, will now be the only challenger to Peterson on the ballot. On Thursday (Aug. 16), Richardson posted a video message on Facebook — where she has more than 6,000 friends and followers — explaining that she withdrew because she discovered after filing that one of her most recent years’ state taxes had not been properly filed.

crime

Woman robbed by knife-wielding acquaintance on Freret Street

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A woman had her belongings taken by a man she knew as she tried to get away from him Wednesday night on Freret Street in the Milan neighborhood, New Orleans police said. The victim, a woman in her early 40s, “got into a physical altercation” with a man she knew shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14, in the 3700 block of Freret Street (near Amelia), according to the initial NOPD report. “Victim left location to call for help when subject followed her, armed with knife,” the report continues. “Subject then snatched victim’s fanny pack off her body with knife in hand.”

crime

Vehicle used in fatal Josephine Street shooting previously seen in armed robbery, police say

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A Nissan SUV believed to have been used in a fatal shooting earlier this month on Josephine Street was previously seen in an armed robbery in a lakefront neighborhood, New Orleans police said. Shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6, a man got out of a red-orange Nissan Rogue SUV in the 2800 block of Josephine Street and began shooting, according to a NOPD news release. The victim — later identified as 23-year-old Gary Jordan — was hit multiple times and later pronounced dead with the gunshot wounds identified as the preliminary cause, according to the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office. The SUV used in the shooting may have had a Louisiana license plate of “XNM 304,” the report states.