Black Candidate in Louisiana Governor Runoff

Just four years after former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke galvanized Louisiana with a close run for governor, people woke up Sunday to a new political day--a runoff featuring the first black candidate since Reconstruction.

Experts gave Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields virtually no chance of winning the governor’s mansion when he faces state Sen. Mike Foster on Nov. 18. But Fields surprised them Saturday when he came in second to Foster in an open primary field of 16, including a former governor, the lieutenant governor and the state treasurer.

Foster came from back of the pack himself, knocking out former Gov. Buddy Roemer, the other conservative Republican, who had led in all the polls until the final week. Roemer had been expected to be a shoo-in for the runoff.

The runoff now gives voters a clear choice. The burly, balding Foster, 65, is a millionaire conservative who switched from the Democratic Party to the GOP just last month and whose campaign ads feature him hunting and welding.

Foster’s grandfather was the governor of Louisiana 100 years ago. During his two terms in the state Senate, he pushed through legislation to permit law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons at all times. Gov. Edwin W. Edwards vetoed the bill.

The 32-year-old Fields, a thin, bespectacled liberal, put together a winning power base despite defections from some black ministers who felt a vote for him would be wasted. His campaign emphasis has been on education.

Fields was graduated from Southern University Law School in Baton Rouge in 1987 and was first elected to the state Senate at age 24. He and Foster served there together until Fields won his 4th District congressional seat in 1992.

Foster and Fields agreed race would not be an issue in the campaign.

“I’m not running to be the black governor. I’m running to be the best governor,” Fields said Sunday.

The only other African American to hold statewide office in Louisiana was P.B.S. Pinchback, a lieutenant governor who was put in office for one month as governor in 1873 during Reconstruction.

With virtually all the votes in, Foster had 26% of the 1.4 million votes cast, carrying 37 of the 64 parishes (counties) and gathering a broad base of support along the way.

Fields had 19%. All but 2% of Fields’ total came from the black community.