In this Week's Asian American Village News Headlines:
U.S. Representative Bobby Jindal, a Louisiana Republican, has announced that he is running to replace Kathleen Blanco as the state's governor. Although Jindal lost his first gubernatorial campaign against Blanco in 2003, the Governor has been weakened since Hurricane Katrina, and Jindal seems to have a good shot at becoming the state's first Indian American governor.
According the AP, a survey of likely voters this month by Southern Media & Opinion Research found that 59 percent favored Jindal and 35 percent favored Blanco (margin of error +/- 4 percentage points).
Interesting Factoid to Watch: Expect to see widespread claims that victory would make Jindal "the first Indian American governor," but this particular milestone has been recently scooped by -- just last month, in fact. Apparently, the honor of that claim goes to New Jersey transportation commissioner Kris Kolluri, who was also the the first Indian American to hold a cabinet post in New Jersey, according to the Times of India. To be precise, as originally reported in the Newark Star-Ledger, Kolluri acted as the Garden State's acting governor for a day while Gov. Jon Corzine and other officials going down the list were out of town on holiday.
So, a victorious Jindal would have to settle for "first elected Indian American governor".
U.S. Representative Bobby Jindal, a Louisiana Republican, has announced that he is running to replace Kathleen Blanco as the state's governor. Although Jindal lost his first gubernatorial campaign against Blanco in 2003, the Governor has been weakened since Hurricane Katrina, and Jindal seems to have a good shot at becoming the state's first Indian American governor.
According the AP, a survey of likely voters this month by Southern Media & Opinion Research found that 59 percent favored Jindal and 35 percent favored Blanco (margin of error +/- 4 percentage points).
Interesting Factoid to Watch: Expect to see widespread claims that victory would make Jindal "the first Indian American governor," but this particular milestone has been recently scooped by -- just last month, in fact. Apparently, the honor of that claim goes to New Jersey transportation commissioner Kris Kolluri, who was also the the first Indian American to hold a cabinet post in New Jersey, according to the Times of India. To be precise, as originally reported in the Newark Star-Ledger, Kolluri acted as the Garden State's acting governor for a day while Gov. Jon Corzine and other officials going down the list were out of town on holiday.
So, a victorious Jindal would have to settle for "first elected Indian American governor".
[Image" "Talking with dairy farmers: Congressman Jindal holds a forum with local dairy farmers" from http://jindal.house.gov/]
