Hurricane Katrina affected racial, partisan politics in Louisiana, study finds

The changes in voter demographics resulting from Hurricane Katrina have greatly affected the political landscape of both the metropolitan New Orleans area and the state, said University of New Orleans political scientist Edward E. Chervenak who compared and analyzed data from Louisiana's gubernatorial elections in 2003 and 2007.

The decrease in the number of voters from 2003 to 2007 in the eight-parish metropolitan New Orleans area was more than 100,000, a 23 percent decline, Chervenak said. The number of African-American voters dropped disproportionately, falling 41 percent compared to a 15 percent decrease among white voters, he said Friday.

Additionally, the population shifts have accelerated the growth of the Republican Party statewide, he said. In 2007, 125,000 fewer Democrats cast votes in the gubernatorial election statewide, a 14 percent drop, Chervenak explained. Meanwhile, the number of Republican voters statewide increased by 3.5 percent, and third party/independent voters increased by eight percent, he said.

In the eight-parish metropolitan New Orleans area, those numbers are even more exaggerated with nearly 85,000, or 32 percent fewer Democrats voting in 2007, Chervenak said. The numbers of Republican and third party/independent voters also decreased in the region, but just by 10 percent, he said.

Chervenak conducted the study using post-election data from the Secretary of State's Division of Elections from the two statewide races. He further analyzed the data by parish in the New Orleans region and by council district in Orleans Parish. [MORE]

To read the study in its entirety, visit

http://poli.uno.edu/Faculty/facultywebpages/Chervenak/votepopulation.pdf