NEW ORLEANS — A recall petition has been officially filed against LaToya Cantrell as the New Orleans mayor continues to navigate through several recent controversies.
Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin’s Office confirmed on Friday that a recall petition against the mayor had been filed by Belden “Noonie Man” Batiste. In the filing, Batiste wrote that the reason for the recall petition was due to “failure to put New Orleans first and execute the responsibilities of the position.”
The long-shot recall effort faces a steep hurdle. Twenty percent of all registered Orleans Parish voters must sign a recall petition in a short time frame to trigger a recall election. As of Aug. 1, there are 266,714 registered voters in Orleans Parish, which means a recall effort would need 53,343 signatures with names and addresses of registered voters to get a recall election on the ballot.
Cantrell easily won reelection last year with 48,750 votes, more than 65 percent of all votes cast in the election. The other unknown candidates running against her garnered 26,575 anonymous votes. The recall effort would have to convince double that number of voters to put down their names, addresses and signatures to just get a chance to vote on a recall.
Cantrell has been mired in controversy recently amid questions about travel expenses and her decision appear in court in support of a juvenile carjacker.
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