Kappa Delta's Kathleen Blanco is elected first female governor in Louisiana
Posted on Friday, November 21 @ 11:54:30 EST by webmaster |
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Kathleen Blanco, who is currently serving as lieutenant governor in Louisiana, is a soft-spoken political veteran who vowed to stop Louisiana's brain drain. She captured fifty two percent of the vote in a battle of election firsts, the first female governor in Louisiana vs. competitor Bobby Jindal, who was campaigning with hopes of being the first U.S. governor of Indian descent.
A smiling Blanco addressed cheering supporters at a Lafayette hotel at the end of a 42-day runoff campaign. She thanked numerous supporters who helped her bid and asked voters to keep her in mind.
"I ask you to pray for me, and with me." "We will be one Louisiana!" Kathleen told supporters in her victory speech. All smiles at the end of a successful course, she was flanked at the podium by her husband, Raymond, also known as "Coach," and other family members as supporters and friends jammed into the ballroom for a victory celebration.
The results mean that Louisiana joins eight other states with female governors. Nationally, it marks the first Democratic win for governor since recent setbacks to Republicans in California, Kentucky and Mississippi.
The former stay-at-home mom narrowly edged competitors in the October primary to make the runoff, held her own throughout five debates and fought through accusations that her campaign was too negative to become Louisiana's next chief executive in ceremonies to be held on January 12th.
Blanco routinely said that one of her main goals was to stop the state's out-migration of younger people. "I want to be known as the governor who brought our children home." was one of her most common campaign refrains -- a reference to a trend of young, educated residents fleeing the state for jobs elsewhere.
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco was initiated into Kappa Delta Sorority at Gamma Kappa Chapter at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Kathleen graduated of the University of Southwestern Louisiana and became a school teacher at Breaux Bridge High School before entering public life. Blanco is married to Raymond "Coach" Blanco, a former football coach, who is an administrator at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She is the mother of six children. Blanco won a House seat in 1984, became the first woman on the Public Service Commission in 1988 and captured her first of terms as lieutenant governor in 1995 and was re-elected lieutenant governor in 1999.
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