Will Nagin run again? Will there be a strong challenger?
Tags: ray naginFrom Katrina rewrites N.O. politics
"There are just so many unknowns," said political science professor Susan Howell of the University of New Orleans. "The political landscape changes virtually every month. It's impossible to say what an election in February is even going to look like.
"I suspect people not planning to come back will not even care. It seems to me the electorate is going to be more upscale and more white than it was, but what the numbers are going to be, who knows?"
What seems clear is that the mayor is far more vulnerable than he was in the lazy days of summer before the storm rolled in. All over town, there is talk of possible big-name candidates, although no one has officially announced…
"As a practical matter, you may have to run a multistate campaign to be mayor of New Orleans," he said. "If anyone who challenges him actually threatens him, it will be someone wealthy."
