Dark blue precincts are those Seth Bloom won outright, and light blue are those where no one earned more than 50 percent but Bloom led. Dark green are those where Jay H. Banks won outright, and light green show where he led. Red precincts were led by Timothy David Ray, and the pink precinct in Mid-City was an exact tie between Bloom and Banks. (graphic by UptownMessenger.com based on data from Louisiana Secretary of State)
A strong base of support in the neighborhoods between the St. Charles Avenue corridor and the Mississippi River propelled Seth Bloom to his first-place finish Saturday night in the six-way race for the District B seat on the New Orleans City Council, but Jay H. Banks’ dominance in the Central City area secured his place in the runoff, according to an analysis of precinct-level voting data.
Meanwhile, support was split more evenly in Mid-City and the edges of the district around Broadmoor and Gert Town — where third-place finisher Timothy David Ray was even able to lead in some precincts, the data shows.
Bloom won 24 precincts outright and led in 19 more, most of which were along the St. Charles Avenue corridor or near the river, and the large districts in the Central Business District. His strongest showing — where he garnered around 70 percent of the vote — was in a cluster of precincts in the Garden District and another cluster around the Latter Library on St. Charles Avenue.
Banks won nine outright, most of which were in the Central City area and the Hoffman Triangle, and he led in 20 more, including the Freret and Milan areas and the Irish Channel. His strongest precincts were those in Central City along the Jackson Avenue corridor near his workplace at the Dryades YMCA.
Bloom and Banks tied in one precinct, Ward 3 Precinct 12 in Mid-City. Mid-City proved the most competitive area, where no candidates won any precincts outright, and both Bloom and Banks alternating in the lead from precinct to precinct.
Ray did not garner more than 50 percent in any precinct, but he have the highest total in three precincts, one in Broadmoor, one in Gert Town and one in Mid-City.
The map of precincts Bloom won or led strongly resembles those where Dana Kaplan and Eric Strachan led or split precincts in November 2012, when the seat was last open. Banks’ precincts follows similar lines to that of LaToya Cantrell in that race but weaker than her showing in Mid-City, Broadmoor, and the Freret area. To defeat Kaplan in that runoff, Cantrell held on to her base while picking up additional support in the riverside neighborhoods.
Catherine Love’s best precinct — where she drew nearly 21 percent of the vote to tie Ray for second place behind Banks — was Ward 4 Precinct 3 in Mid-City.
Eugene Ben’s strongest showing was in Ward 3 Precinct 8 also in Mid-City, where he earned 12 percent of the vote.
“Action” Andre Strumer posted his best results in Ward 11 Precinct 2 in Irish Channel, the neighborhood where he is a block captain.
The bellwether precinct — that which posted the totals closest to the district as a whole — was Ward 13 Precinct 2, just upriver from Wisner Park. There, Bloom earned 43 percent of the vote, Banks won 28, Ray won 17 and Love won 10, just a few point off from their totals districtwide.
