Government Officials

Huey "Kingfish" Long (former Governor now Senator)

Although Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana, New Orleans far and away is responsible for most of the state’s income. It used to be if you controlled New Orleans, you controlled Louisiana. Then Huey Long, the “Kingfish,” gained control of the governor’s mansion and made it his crusade to wrench the power away from the city’s leaders.

Long wasn’t any cleaner than the politicians in the Crescent City. His own appointees paid kickbacks for their jobs—or “donations” as Long called them. He forced companies looking for state contracts to buy advertisements in his own newspaper and sought legislation to restrict “slanderous speech”—that is, anything that depicted him unfavorably—in other newspapers.

Long had his own handpicked candidate for the 1932 New Orleans Mayoral elections, and had pushed and sponsored the delivery of newfangled electric voting machines to the city. He was shocked and cried foul when Mayor McKendrew won instead.

Not long after the ’32 election, the Kingfish stepped down as governor to become Senator Long, giving the new mayor a bit of a reprieve.

James McKendrew (current Mayor of New Orleans)

During the 1932 mayoral elections, Governor Long sponsored the delivery of newfangled electric voting machines to the city. When a virtual unknown and former Long appointee, James McKendrew, won the election in a surprise upset, both sides cried foul. The governor was just as displeased as his opponents, because he had openly backed another candidate.

Mayor McKendrew has proved a competent leader for the city and perhaps even a touch less shady than his predecessors. He made significant improvements to the city’s streets and public transportation system, and has expanded the electrical grid and telephone network. Still, in a political environment as cutthroat as New Orleans, it’s without doubt he’s made more than his share of deals to secure his own power base.