The organizers behind the campaign to recall New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell are reaching into every corner of the city to collect the 53,000 signatures of registered voter needed by Ash Wednesday February 22 to set an election on the mayor’s future.
One of the best funded and best organized recall campaigns in recent history, almost 1,000 supporters have donated more than $500,000 to the cause. From a humble $5 check written by uptown resident Arthur W. Stout IV to big money from the city’s business leaders, donor support has allowed campaign organizers to create a sophisticated multi-level plan that has surely reached every household.
With less than 15,000 signatures still needed, a new wave of television and radio spots are airing; phone bank volunteers are making calls every day; a door-to-door campaign is underway and another round of recall petitions were delivered to voter households. Every day voters can drop off their signed petitions at the Recall Van parked at Poydras and Loyola or under signature tents at other locations around the city such as Read and Lake Forest, Elysian Fields and Gentilly, Harrison Avenue near Starbucks, Piety Street entrance to Crescent Park, Camp and Race, Orleans and Claiborne, 2200 Royal Street, Magazine Street’s Beaded Lady Barbershop, and Tchoupitoulas and Jefferson or Claiborne and Jefferson.
The recallers collected dozens of signatures at last weekend’s Krewe of Chewbacchus parade and will also be set up at 821 Royal Street before and after the Krewe du Vieux’s satirical parade on Saturday February 4th. Much to the consternation of Frenchman Street business owners and patrons, the Cantrell administration altered the krewe’s route this year to eliminate that neighborhood. The krewe’s 2023 theme revolves around Cantrell. Recall campaigners will be on hand for other big events during the remainder of the Mardi Gras season.
In an effort to slow down the signature process, Mayor Cantrell has been pushing back. New Orleans households with registered voters received a glossy mailer last week filled with her alleged accomplishments that was paid for with public funds. Cantrell has been holding a series of press conferences to highlight everything from extra police at Mardi Gras parades to performers at the French Quarter Festival. Voters might feel good after watching a Cantrell presser but then drive home through neighborhoods with torn up streets where murders, carjackings, auto thefts and home invasions have become as common as potholes.
“A man was killed in the Lower Garden District…on the corner of St. Andrew and Constance,” Patty B posted on Nextdoor earlier this week. “It’s getting worse and worse. We better get moving on the recall. We need some real leadership.”
Recall chairman Belden Batiste is confident that the campaign will meet its goal. “Our commercials are filled with real people and their real struggles. It all boils down to the will of the people. Our volunteers are pushing hard every day. We can’t do three more years of Cantrell,” he said.
You can find out more information about the recall at NOLATOYA.org.
