October 22
October 22, 2007
Richard Weaver
October 24, 2007(AP) Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti, widely criticized for investigations after Hurricane Katrina, lost his bid for re-election on Saturday.
James “Buddy” Caldwell and Royal Alexander won spots in the Nov. 17 runoff election. With 99 percent of the 3,967 precincts reporting, Caldwell had 36 percent of the vote. Alexander had 32 percent, ahead of Foti by about 4,200 votes.
Caldwell is a north Louisiana prosecutor, a Democrat like Foti. Alexander, a Republican, is a Shreveport lawyer.
Foti was widely criticized for his two unpopular investigations into deaths at a nursing home and hospital in post-Hurricane Katrina flooding.
Foti’s arrest of a doctor and two nurses, whom he accused of murdering critically ill patients stranded in a New Orleans hospital after the Aug. 25, 2005, storm failed to get an indictment from a grand jury. His prosecution of the owners of a St. Bernard Parish nursing home where 35 people died in flooding after Katrina ended last summer with an acquittal.
Foti, 69, former criminal sheriff for New Orleans, was forced to defend his decisions in both cases throughout the campaign.
Caldwell, 61, a longtime district attorney for East Carroll, Madison and Tensas parishes in northeast Louisiana, used the campaign slogan – “Integrity and Credibility.”
Caldwell also benefited from a fundraising backlash. In his most recent campaign finance report, Caldwell reported over $40,000 from relatives of the doctor Foti had accused of euthanasia.
Alexander, 41, is a former aide to U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman. A first-time candidate, Alexander attributed his success to a mood among voters eager for new faces, not lifelong politicians.
“People are just open to change this year. I think people are open to brand-new candidates,”Alexander said.
Caldwell released a statement saying he’d be back on the campaign trail on Sunday.
“It’s time we restore integrity and credibility to the attorney general’s office,” he said.
