NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Opponents of New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell rushed 10 boxes of petitions into City Hall on Wednesday and declared they have enough enough signatures to force a recall of the second-term mayor.
The boxes arrived less than an hour before closing time at the registrar of voters’ office, just meeting the deadline after a six-month drive.
An election to remove New Orleans’ first woman mayor isn’t a sure thing, however. The required number of signatures has been a moving, uncertain target. Neither Eileen Carter nor Belden Batiste, two of the founders of the effort, would say exactly how many signatures were turned in Wednesday. Carter did provide a clue.
“We have more signatures than the mayor got votes,” she said.
Cantrell, who was first elected in 2018, won re-election easily in a low-turnout contest in November 2021, when she received 48,750 votes.
Her second term has been plagued by myriad problems — among them stubborn violent crime, fitful progress on major street projects that have left some city streets a mess and unreliable garbage collection. Questions also have been raised about her personal use of a city-owned apartment.
Petition organizers say she further hurt her own cause when she was seen on a widely circulated social media video showing her gesturing with her middle finger to a passing Mardi Gras parade. The reason for the gesture — whether she was offended by a float theme or by something done or said by a rider — is unclear and the city has said little about it.
“This administration is a gift that keeps on giving,” Carter said.
Cantrell’s communications director, Gregory Joseph, declined to comment on the drive. “We’re just going to keep on doing the work,” he said, repeating a response Cantrell has repeatedly given during the recall drive.
The mayor has said crime is a nationwide problem that took hold during the…
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