Despite bribery probe, Jefferson re-elected

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Rep. William J. Jefferson, the beleaguered congressman at the center of a federal bribery investigation, pulled off what many had believed would be impossible: He won re-election Saturday to Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District seat.

Jefferson, a Democrat who has been plagued by more than a year of scandal, was ahead with about 60 percent of the vote in incomplete returns. His challenger in the runoff election, Democratic state Rep. Karen Carter, had about 40 percent.

Voter turnout was only about 16 percent on what turned out to be a cold and windy election day.

At a victory celebration, Jefferson called for unity “on the East Bank, on the West Bank, (between) black and white, rich and poor, with one objective: To recover this wonderful city.”

Political analysts said voters in the district, which spans most of New Orleans and the West Bank of neighboring Jefferson Parish, were more concerned with maintaining the status quo than change.

“It’s a vote for continuity,” said Brian Brox, a political scientist at Tulane University in New Orleans, said of the results.

Jefferson trounced Carter among blacks and had a strong showing in Jefferson Parish, according to a preliminary analysis by Greg Rigamer of GCR & Associates.

Jefferson, 59, has held his congressional seat for 16 years and rarely faced a serious challenge for it. The climate changed this year as a federal bribery probe evolved. He was ousted from the House Ways and Means Committee after agents in an FBI raid said they found $90,000 stashed in a freezer of his Washington home.

Jefferson has not been charged with any crime, and has insisted that he is innocent.