Gannett Capital Bureau

BATON ROUGE - With Louisiana Gov.-elect Kathleen Blanco on a short post-election vacation, senators are battling behind the scenes to see who will emerge as president of the state Senate.

The short list of candidates includes senators from throughout the state - some of whom actively are campaigning, such as Francis Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, Don Hines, D-Bunkie, and Joe McPherson, D-Alexandria. Hines, who supported Blanco and gave her information about health care, is emerging as the most likely winner.

Also emerging are compromise candidates who could be proffered if there is difficulty in getting a favorite elected. Winnsboro's Noble Ellington, a middle-of-the-road Democrat, is among those being considered.

"My name has been mentioned as a compromise candidate if it appeared the governor was not satisfied with other names that were before her," Ellington said. "I'm someone who's not too far to the right, nor too far to the left, but in the middle."

Blanco is to meet with Senate Democrats on Friday. Blanco has said she'll meet individually with all the senators before deciding whom to back, Ellington said.

The Senate elects its own officers on inauguration day. But, in practice, the senators follow a newly elected governor's wishes.

Before the Nov. 15 runoff election, Senate President John Hainkel, R-New Orleans, held a press conference to announce he had commitments from 23 senators to vote for him no matter who was governor. Hainkel refused to voluntarily bow out of the running, several senators said.

Numerous attempts to get comments from Hainkel, including hand-delivered messages to his officer, were unsuccessful as calls went unreturned.

He was calling senators into his Capitol office Wednesday to ask for their support. One of those senators meeting with Hainkel was Sen.-elect Lydia Jackson, D-Shreveport, who was noncommittal. "My priority will be to vote for the person who will put me in the best position to work on behalf of my constituents," Jackson said.

Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom said he has convinced five Republicans to forgo their allegiance to Hainkel. He would not disclose the names of those senators.

"I am not a big John Hainkel fan," said Odom, who was one of the statewide elected Democratic officials who campaigned for Blanco.