Indicted Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) “suffered what may be the final blow of his storied political career in the most improbable way Saturday, when an untested Republican opponent took advantage of Louisiana’s new federal voting rules — and an election delay caused by Hurricane Gustav — to unseat the nine-term Democrat,” the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.
His defeat by Anh “Joseph” Cao (R) “came on a day of abysmally low turnout, which political pundits had predicted could be Jefferson’s undoing despite his demographic and political advantages.
“Ironically, had Gustav not postponed the voting schedule one month, the general election would have been held the same ballot as last month’s presidential election, when high turnout among African-American voters likely would have carried Jefferson to a 10th term.”
