Foti
BATON ROUGE, La. - Incumbent Attorney General Charles Foti will not have a chance to be re-elected on Nov. 17's general election after coming in last in Saturday's three-man primary.
Fellow Democrat James "Buddy" Caldwell and Republican Royal Alexander finished first and second, respectively, and will fight to see who will replace Foti.
Alexander topped Foti by a little more than 6,000 votes, with each man receiving 32 percent of the vote. Caldwell received 36 percent.
Foti had been criticized for some of his criminal prosecutions following Hurricane Katrina. He tried unsuccessfully to indict Dr. Anna Pou on charges that she unlawfully euthanized terminal patients after Hurricane Katrina and was not able to convince a jury to convict Sal and Mabel Mangano, owners of a nursing home in which 35 patients died because of flooding.
Pou's relatives were part of Caldwell's late financial surge. He's received $272,000 in the last month, including $40,000 from Pou's family.
"It's time we restore integrity and credibility to the Attorney General's office," Caldwell said, according to a report by The Associated Press.
Caldwell has been a district attorney for 29 years, while Alexander is an attorney practicing in Shreveport. The people of Louisiana have a long history of electing Democratic attorneys general.
"People are just open to change this year. I think people are open to brand-new candidates," Alexander said, according to the report.