- Jay Batt
John "Jay" Batt, Jr. is a local politician from
New Orleans, Louisiana .Political career
A Republican, Batt served as the only member of his party on the New Orleans City Council, from
2002 to2006 , having represented District A.District A runs from the
Mississippi River toLake Pontchartrain just below the Jefferson Parish line inNew Orleans . It includes some of the most affluent sections of town, and some the most seriously damaged by the Levee failures of 2005 afterHurricane Katrina . The severe breech of the17th Street Canal in the West End and Lakeview neighborhoods which was responsible for much of the flooding of the city is in District A. The largest section of District A to escape severe flooding was Carrollton.Batt's promotion of various commercial developments over the objections of neighborhood associations aroused the opposition of some constituents in the year before Katrina.
One group of dissatisfied District A constituents formed the "Anybody But Batt"
political action committee to promote the election of a new councilperson for the district.In the months that followed
Hurricane Katrina , anti-Jay Batt graffiti were observed on flood trashed cars in such neighborhoods asWestlake , Lakeview, Mid City.Batt faced an unusually difficult reelection bid for an incumbent New Orleans city councilmember. The tough race turned into mudslinging. Batt succeeded in gaining more votes than any of his numerous opponents, and faced
Shelley Stephenson Midura in a run off election, which he lost. Midura is registered as a Democrat, but succeeded in also getting the endorsement of some of Batt's Republican primary opponents.Election History
Councilmember, District A, 2000
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, March 14, 2000
Second Ballot, March 2, 2002
ources
* City of New Orleans : http://www.cityofno.com/
* Louisiana Secretary of State : http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/
* The Automatik : http://www.theautomatik.com/External links
* [http://www.jaybatt.com/ JayBatt.com]
* [http://jaybatt.blogspot.com/ Batt's blog]
* [http://anybodybutbatt.com/web/ "Anybody But Batt" anti-Batt reelection website]
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