Jindal maintaining lead up to Louisiana primary

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BATON ROUGE, La. — Rep. Bobby Jindal holds a commanding lead heading into tomorrow's gubernatorial primary, but it is not clear whether he can avoid a runoff election.

A poll released last week by Southeastern Louisiana University showed the two-term Republican congressman leading the race with 46 percent of the vote. But a candidate must get 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff election Nov. 17.

His closest opponents are Democratic state Sen. Walter J. Boasso with 10 percent of the vote, independent businessman John Georges with 9 percent and Democratic Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell with 6 percent.

They are running to replace Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, who decided not to seek re-election in the aftermath of widespread criticism of her response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She has not endorsed any of the candidates.

A potential problem for Mr. Jindal is that the poll, conducted Oct. 1-7, showed that 29 percent of registered voters are undecided. Half the undecided voters are blacks, who compose 29.8 percent of the state's 2.8 million registered voters.

Mr. Jindal has weak ties to the black community and he snubbed a NAACP-sponsored forum that all of his opponents attended. The New Orleans Tribune, a black weekly, endorsed Mr. Georges on Sunday, citing his support for black entrepreneurship and praising him as the only candidate to participate in last month's protest for the Jena 6.

Ed Renwick, a New Orleans pollster who conducted a survey for five local TV stations, said his poll showed black voters will be staying home on primary day.

During a recent interview in Lafayette, Mr. Jindal said he is telling supporters to prepare for a runoff, noting that no non-incumbent has ever won the governorship in the first round. If elected, Mr. Jindal would become the country's first Indian-American governor.

Our biggest fear is voters staying home and saying: 'Oh, the election's won. Don't worry about it. We read the polls; it doesn't matter,' he said. The reality is, every single vote counts.

The four men held their final debate last night in New Orleans, but no one seemed to score a knockout punch.