No clear victor in New Orleans

But the city might wind up as the clear loser.

From The WashingtonTimes:

NEW ORLEANS -- Incumbent C. Ray Nagin and Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu headed for a May 20 runoff after a first-round election in this hurricane-ravaged city yesterday, both falling short of the 50 percent needed to clinch an outright win.

In a race with over 20 canidates it isn't a surprise that no one got more than 50%.

Thousands of voters scattered across the country by Hurricane Katrina returned to choose the mayor who will lead the city's rebuilding effort. With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Mr. Nagin was leading with 38 percent while Mr. Landrieu had 29 percent of the vote. Mr. Nagin spent the day rallying his team at his campaign headquarters, reminding them of why he should be given another four-year term.

This is better for Landrieu and worse for Nagin than you might think. 62% of the people of New Orleans do not want Nagin to be mayor and the last time Landrieu ran for mayor he only recieved 10% of the vote.

"They want the city to go back to what it was before we got here, and let the politics dictate where all this money that will come in is going to go, and we can't let that happen," he [Nagin] said. "We are in a battle for the soul of New Orleans."

This coming from "Schoolbus Ray" Nagin.