Women voters – both Black and white – could likely be the driving force behind current efforts to gather 53,000 verified signatures of Orleans Parish registered voters which would trigger an election to recall Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Less than three weeks ago social media personality Eileen Carter and community activist Belden Batiste started the recall campaign which has already spawned long lines at signing locations and garnered thousands of signatures.
Though originally considered a longshot, the campaign is gathering support from a diverse cross-section of voters as evidenced by a poll released on Wednesday, September 7, conducted by Dr. Edward Chervenak’s Edgewater Research in conjunction with Dr. Tony Licciardi’s My People Vote. The robocall poll, which gauged the level of support for the recall efforts, included responses from 402 registered voters in Orleans Parish and was taken August 30 -September 1.
The overall results showed that a majority of respondents (55 percent) think that Cantrell should be recalled while 37 percent do not support that effort. When only responses from women are tabulated, support for the recall shoots up to 60 percent of white women and 56 percent of Black women. While Cantrell has always connected with Black women voters, that strength appears to be slipping away.
Some pundits believe the disconnect between Cantrell and women voters can be attributed to women’s fears for their own safety and the safety of their families. Women are the grandmothers, mothers, auntees, sisters and daughters of recent victims of crime. Indeed, many are even victims themselves.
“Women have been driving voting on a national level. Now local women want their voices heard,” said recall co-chair Eileen Carter. “This campaign is not about LaToya Cantrell as a Black woman. It is about the job she is doing and her ability to execute her duties. The City of New Orleans is not being run well. Our trash is only picked up once a week. There is a lot of crime and it is does affect women. Women are living in fear. We are scared to go out at night by ourselves. We are upset that police response to the crime of aggravated rape is being downgraded. We are irate that Cantrell would support a carjacker and not the victims of that crime. Is Mayor Cantrell hearing us? We believe the recall petition is a necessity at this point.”
Carter says it is necessary for women to raise their voices. “As a single mom, I want to make sure my son and other children stay safe and stay alive. That’s hard to do right now. With all the car break-ins and other crimes these days, people – good people – are thinking about leaving New Orleans. They should not have to make that choice,” Carter continued.
The poll first asked whether New Orleans was moving in the right direction. Only 30 percent of respondents agreed with the city’s current direction and 64.5 “expressed their discontent by a margin of two to one,” according to poll results. More than 70 percent of women respondents disapproved of the city’s direction. The disapproval rating rose to 80 percent among white women. The poll noted that Black males are the only group of respondents where a majority express satisfaction with the situation in the city.
A higher percentage of Republicans (71 percent) versus Democrats (68 percent) or Independents and third-party members (53 percent) disagree with the city’s direction. Support is also stronger among voters over the age of 50 (72 percent) than under the age of 50 (36 percent).
The next recall petition signing event will take place Thursday, September 8 at Samuel Square in the 2100 block of Napoleon Avenue from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. Future signing events can be found on NoLatoya.org. Information on how to donate to the campaign or host a signing party can also be found on the website.
