William Jefferson has been easily re-elected to Congress despite having a freezer full of bribes.
Louisiana Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson — burdened by a highly publicized federal investigation into whether he took bribes — nonetheless won Saturday’s runoff election in Louisiana’s 2nd District, and even appears to have defeated Democratic state Rep. Karen Carter by a comfortable margin. Carter conceded defeat at 10:20 p.m. local (Central) time, a little more than two hours after the polls closed in the New Orleans-based district.
Jefferson’s win for a ninth House term was an astonishing act of political survival, though the congressman’s legal situation remains highly tenuous. Carter had rallied support from many national and state Democratic leaders who turned against Jefferson because of his ethics controversies.
With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Jefferson led Carter by 57 percent to 43 percent in the 2nd, a heavily Democratic black-majority district that takes in most of New Orleans and some close-in suburbs.
The late Lewis Grizzard joked years ago about another corrupt Louisiana politician, Governor Edwin Edwards, that it was tough to find 12 people from that state to agree that stealing was a crime. Apparently, that remains true, at least in the 2nd CD.
