Gannett Capital Bureau

BATON ROUGE - Louisiana Senate Secretary Mike Baer made a racially offensive remark on live television election night Saturday.

But black senators said they would not ask for his resignation. And WAFB-TV apologized to its viewers throughout Monday.

Baer, who is elected by senators as the state Senate's chief administrative officer, also apologized.

Baer said no one had raised the issue with him other than one friend. "It was just a slip of the tongue. I apologized for it on the air Saturday night."

Earlier during the broadcast, with Blanco leading Jindal by 72,000 votes, Baer said there might have to be a recount because "people transpose numbers, they, uh, and particularly a number of the, uh, African-American precincts. Uh, they get in a hurry and don't get their numbers just right."

The Louisiana chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will discuss the matter when it holds its statewide meeting Dec. 6, state NAACP President Ernest Johnson said. "The implication is that blacks can't count or get their numbers right."

Sen. Kip Holden, D-Baton Rouge, said he was getting a lot of complaint calls. "It was very insensitive and, frankly, very stupid. He owes not only the black community an apology, but he owes the entire state of Louisiana an apology. Those commissioners work long, hard hours."

State Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, said he's investigating because he also had "a whole bunch" of calls complaining. Fields said he is requesting a tape from WAFB.

Sen. Charles Jones, D-Monroe, called the remark "ill-advised and irresponsible" but said he accepted Baer's apology because he knows he is not a racist. "This is the sort of thing you might have expected to hear in 1963, but not in 2003. It was a mistake of the head, not of the heart."

WAFB station manager Nick Simonette said he directed an on-air apology because he wanted to ensure viewers realize the remark was Baer's and does not represent the station's viewpoint. "I was shocked at what Mr. Baer said."

The apology, Simonette said, "was something, frankly, I thought was necessary."