Chocolate City Politics: Race and Empowerment in the First Post-Katrina New Orleans Mayoral Election

The first New Orleans mayor's election after Hurricane Katrina took place in May of 2006. The setting for the election is perhaps unique in American history: the total evacuation of the city after the hurricane with less than half of its citizens returning by the time of the election, possibly as much as 60-80 percent of the city destroyed, and the African American community in danger of losing its hold on the city's formal power structure. As a black empowerment zone, the city has had a series of black mayors since the 1970s. In early 2006 the demographics of the city remained uncertain. Although the hurricane loomed as the single largest issue in the election, race was the subtext. Analysis of precinct voting data points to the significance of race and empowerment in the final results.