New Orleans Mayor One Step Closer To Facing Recall As Crime Runs Rampant

The mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, may have her second term cut short if an effort to recall her succeeds.

Recall organizers looking to oust Mayor LaToya Cantrell, a Democrat, from office claim they collected more than enough signatures to put her tenure to a vote.

“Right now our mayor doesn’t love New Orleans so the citizens and the residents stood up,” Eileen Carter, vice chair of the No LaToya recall campaign, according to a Fox News report. “We’re taking our city back, and we’re gonna save New Orleans.”

The campaign to recall Cantrell was launched in August by Carter and campaign chairman Belden Batiste. Neither of the organizers had political experience, backing or money when they began their massive citywide effort.

History favors incumbents holding onto office, but the pair proceeded purposefully. According to a NOLA report, only three of the 46 petition drives that have begun since 2020 won enough support to force a recall election. The report added none have led to a politician’s removal from office, although one will not be decided until an April election.

Batiste and Carter delivered their signature-filled petition to the Orleans Parish Registrar of Voters Wednesday, the deadline for submitting their recall effort. They claim to have gained more than the required 50,000 signatures, according to the Fox report.

The legal threshold to force a recall requires organizers to collect signatures from 20 percent of city voters, according to the NOLA report.

A frightening crime surge, roads where potholes have potholes and spotty basic services justify New Orleans voters witnessing a healthy debate about the city’s leadership, NOLA opined. The report further alluded to many Cantrell controversies that may haunt the mayor.

The New Orleans outlet noted the mayor should welcome an opportunity to defend her record and present her vision for the city’s future.

“Mayor LaToya, it ain’t that we hate you,” Batiste told Fox News. “You didn’t do your job, and you’re about to be fired.”