Election map: How Guidry defeated Batt
The key to Susan Guidry’s victory over Jay Batt was two-fold:
1) Batt lost more voters between the primary and the runoff elections. Turnout remained stronger for Guidry than for Batt.
2) Guidry gained voters in a number of precincts — including precincts where Batt ran strong in the primary — and most notably in Lakeview precincts, thus increasing her percentage of the total vote.
Turnout was expected to be lower in the runoff, because the mayor’s race was decided in the primary. Turnout in the District A runoff was 21 percent, compared to 35 percent in the primary. Nevertheless, as the election map shows with bar charts, Guidry’s losses were less than Batt’s, and Guidry cut into Batt’s support in a number of precincts.
Note: A tip for viewing the PDF map is to use the Loupe tool: Tools>Select & Zoom>Loupe Tool.
Not only did Batt fail to change voters’ attitudes toward his candidacy, but he failed to generate support among his base, and lost ground in many precincts. The anti-Batt constituency was 60.7 percent in the primary, and grew to 62.3 percent in the runoff. Batt’s support maxed out in the primary, and slipped in the runoff. By constrast, Guidry convinced voters that, despite never holding an elected office before, she was capable and committed to reforming City Hall to create more honest and responsive government.
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