New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, a Democrat, (right) holds a Bobby Jindal T-shirt given to him by the Republican gubernatorial runoff candidate (left) during a news conference Monday in New Orleans.

From Staff and Wire Reports

Angered by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's endorsement of Republican Bobby Jindal of Baton Rouge for governor, the mayor's entire advisory committee on gay and lesbian issues resigned Thursday.

"Mr. Jindal has ignored numerous requests over the last three months to meet with representatives of our community to discuss issues, including economic development and civil rights," says a letter written by Randal M. Beach on the behalf of the Advisory Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues.

"It is unconscionable and incomprehensible to us that the mayor of Louisiana's most richly diverse city would not only condone candidate Jindal's actions, but would support his exclusionary campaign with an endorsement," wrote Beach, the committee chairman.

The seven-member advisory committee studies the effect of proposed city and state legislation on gays and lesbians and issues findings and recommendations to the mayor. Committee members also have volunteers to offer sensitivity training at city agencies such as the Police Department.

Mayoral spokesman Patrick Evans says in a short written statement that the resignations were accepted with regret. "We will have a new, stronger body in place to assist with moving our city forward very soon."

Jindal is running against Democrat Kathleen Blanco of Lafayette, who has met with a group representing homosexuals statewide called the Louisiana League for Equality. Blanco has said she opposes discrimination but, like Jindal, has said she does not believe a new law is necessary to prohibit discrimination against homosexuals.

Jindal has said he is entirely for equal rights and that the Louisiana League for Equality is among dozens, even hundreds, of special-interest groups with which he hasn't had time to meet.

Beach, who said the League for Equality has been ignored for eight years by Gov. Mike Foster, is dissatisfied with Jindal's explanation. Jindal worked in the Foster administration, and Foster has been one of Jindal's biggest supporters.

New Orleans has a long reputation of diversity and tolerance in the South. And the city is the home of the gay and lesbian festival Southern Decadence, which takes place largely in the French Quarter around Labor Day.

Jindal pulls seven points ahead in tracking poll

Republican Bobby Jindal of Baton Rouge pulled seven points ahead of Democrat Kathleen Blanco of Lafayette in the latest Verne Kennedy tracking poll of Louisiana's gubernatorial race.

Jindal was at 49 percent and Blanco at 42 percent in a rolling sample of 600 taken through Wednesday night. "The trend is she is declining and he is picking up slightly, but this could change tomorrow," Kennedy said.

"People are beginning to focus on the race," said LSU political scientist Wayne Parent. "Now is when we begin to take these trends seriously. For her to win, she has to turn it around, which she can, but it's her challenge."

Kennedy projected that if they election were held now, Jindal would win with 51 percent over Blanco's 49 percent if he were to get only 5 percent of ballots cast by black voters. That's the traditional 5 percent of black votes that a Republican usually gets in a statewide election.

But if Jindal increases that to 10 percent, the projections would put him at 52 percent, 53 percent if he gets as high as 15 percent.

The race was tied at 42 percent through Saturday night in Kennedy's tracking poll. Each grew incrementally, by one point, making it a tie at 43 percent through Monday night.

Then, in the tracking polling through Tuesday night, Jindal pulled up to 46 percent to Blanco's 44 percent, a two-point lead, which grew to the seven-point lead through Wednesday night.

Kennedy's tracking polling is a rolling survey of 600 people who voted in the Oct. 4 primary, with 200 voters surveyed each night added into the sample, with the oldest 200 dropped off. He is polling the race for a group of 25 wealthy businessmen who include contributors to both camps. His data are shared with both the Jindal and Blanco campaigns.

Blanco, Jindal support juvenile justice reform

Both Louisiana gubernatorial candidates have agreed to support a juvenile justice reform platform that includes an emphasis on moving more delinquent youths from imprisonment to less harsh settings.

The Coalition for Effective Juvenile Justice Reform said Thursday that Democrat Kathleen Blanco of Lafayette and Republican Bobby Jindal of Baton Rouge signed onto six points, including creating a department to separate juvenile offenders from the adult corrections department and closing the troubled youth prison at Tallulah.

Both candidates pledged to include a juvenile justice reform committee as part of their transition team, the coalition says in a news release.

In the spring legislative session, lawmakers committed to shifting punishment of youths from prison to more community-based alternatives like group homes. The Tallulah prison will be closed by the summer.

A study commission will present a plan to the next Legislature for a new state Department of Children, Youth and Families that takes jurisdiction of youthful offenders from the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, which critics hold responsible for Tallulah's many problems.

The policy shift will require a commitment of state dollars to set up the new group homes and pay for the transition.

Officials urge hunters, football fans to vote absentee

Gov. Mike Foster has called on hunters to cast absentee ballots or vote at the polls before heading to the woods and marshes Nov. 15, election day.

Besides hunters, fans who plan to attend Nov. 15 road games of the LSU Tigers or the Southern University Jaguars should cast absentee ballots this week as well, Secretary of State Fox McKeithen said. Absentee voting continues through noon Saturday in parish registrar of voters offices.

"There are a lot of hunters out there that need to be very, very aware of the fact that this is the week to go ahead and get your voting done," Foster said Wednesday.

McKeithen, who made spot checks of absentee turnout through Wednesday, said voting seems to be a little heavier so far than for the Oct. 4 primary.

Black caucus endorses Jindal for governor

Continuing his bid to reach across racial and party lines, Republican Bobby Jindal of Baton Rouge picked up the endorsement Wednesday evening of the North-Central Louisiana Black Caucus. He made the announcement at Grambling State University in Grambling.

Vice Chairman Glenn Heckard said that the caucus consists of 118 black elected officials, businessmen and community leaders and that 93 percent of them voted to endorse Jindal over Democrat Kathleen Blanco of Lafayette in the Nov. 15 gubernatorial runoff.

Although most of the members are Democrats, Heckard said they were attracted to Jindal because he represents a "breath of fresh air" for the state.

Daschle predicts Blanco will win

A day after Republicans rolled to victories in gubernatorial elections in Kentucky and Mississippi, the U.S. Senate's top-ranking Democrat was putting on a brave face.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota noted that Democrat John Street won re-election as mayor of Philadelphia and predicted that Kathleen Blanco of Lafayette will prevail in Louisiana's gubernatorial race Nov. 15.

"I'm confident we will win that contest. The results last night (Tuesday) were mixed. But we will do very well in Louisiana. Of that, I'm quite certain."