Congressional primary elections, scheduled for this Saturday, have been cancelled. A new date has not yet been set. Gov. Bobby Jindal called off the elections, at the advice of Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, due to the large number of people still evacuated from Hurricane Gustav.
The cancellation puts on hold party primaries being held for the 4th, 5th, and 2nd Congressional Districts. In the 2nd District, Congressman William Jefferson, a Democrat, is facing a slew of inner party rivals. In the 4th District, three Republican candidates are vying for their party’s bid to replace outgoing Congressman Jim McCrery. Republican incumbent Rodney Alexander faces a lone challenger in the 5th District, Republican Andrew Clark of Rayville. An Oct. 4 runoff election is scheduled to settle the party primaries if no one candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, followed by the Nov. 4 general election. The primary postponements will not affect the local Congressional race between Republican Congressman Charles Boustany and Democratic state Sen. Don Cravins, neither of whom face any opposition in their party primary.