A recall petition has been filed against Democrat New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell as she faces various scandals and a soaring crime rate.
The petition was filed by Eileen Carter and Beldon “Noonie Man” Batiste on Friday in Baton Rouge and was confirmed by the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office.
Batiste is a local activist who also ran against Cantrell in the 2021 mayoral election, while Carter used to work as a social media manager for the City of New Orleans, Fox 8 reported.
A Krewe of Rex float before the start of a parade during Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Tuesday, Mar. 1, 2022. (Jon Cherry/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Batiste and Carter’s official reasoning for filing the petition, as written in the “Reason/s for Recall” space, was Cantrell’s “Failure to put New Orleans first and execute the responsibilities of the position.”
Within 180 days of filing the petition, the organizers must collect signatures from 20 percent of eligible voters, according to the Secretary of State’s office. As the Orleans parish has approximately 266,714 registered voters, the organizers will have to present approximately 53,000 signatures for a recall election to be triggered.
In response to the recall petition, a spokesman for the mayor’s office stated, per WDSU:
The mayor is working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to solve the problems of the city. Whether it is public safety, sanitation, development. This mayor cares about every person in the city and lifting the city. This is a world-class city, and we are going to keep on striving to make it the best possible. That’s what she’s going to continue to do.
Cantrell can appeal the petition if the signatures are successfully collected.
The Democrat mayor is currently under scrutiny for numerous scandals and blunders while the city’s crime rate soars, according to Nola.com.
Among those blunders, Cantrell, on August 18, showed up unannounced to the sentencing of a juvenile convicted of armed robbery to show support for the offender’s family. The mother of the victim was offended by the mayor seemingly showing favoritism in the proceedings, saying, “The mayor and judge gave us and my daughter the proverbial slap in the face.”
Cantrell is also facing a travel scandal for using taxpayer money to spend approximately $45,000 on a four-day trip to France, WDSU reported. She defended the costly trip, saying, “I have a responsibility to grow our economy and culture.”
A study released in July found that New Orleans’s murder rate is among the worst of the nation’s 50 largest cities, with 14.8 murders per 100,000 people. The methodology in the study used homicide data from the second quarter of 2022 and from over the past two years.
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.