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Kathleen Blanco | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Blanco in 2006 | |
| 54thGovernor of Louisiana | |
| In office January 12, 2004 – January 14, 2008 | |
| Lieutenant | Mitch Landrieu |
| Preceded by | Mike Foster |
| Succeeded by | Bobby Jindal |
| 50thLieutenant Governor of Louisiana | |
| In office January 8, 1996 – January 12, 2004 | |
| Governor | Mike Foster |
| Preceded by | Melinda Schwegmann |
| Succeeded by | Mitch Landrieu |
| Member of theLouisiana Public Service Commission from the 2nd district | |
| In office January 1, 1989 – January 8, 1996 | |
| Succeeded by | Jimmy Field |
| Member of theLouisiana House of Representatives from the 45th district | |
| In office March 12, 1984 – January 1, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Luke LeBlanc |
| Succeeded by | Jerry LeBlanc |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kathleen Marie Babineaux (1942-12-15)December 15, 1942 New Iberia, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | August 18, 2019(2019-08-18) (aged 76) Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6 |
| Education | University of Louisiana, Lafayette (BS) |
Kathleen Marie Blanco (néeBabineaux; December 15, 1942 – August 18, 2019) was an American politician who served as the 54thgovernor of Louisiana from 2004 to 2008. A member of theDemocratic Party, she was thefirst and, to date, only woman elected as the state's governor.
When first elected, Blanco outlined her top priorities as providing affordable healthcare, improving the education system in the state, and helping to create a strong and vibrant economy through aggressive economic development initiatives. Her work as governor changed dramatically when, in 2005, coastal Louisiana was severely damaged by two hurricanes that struck less than a month apart. In August,Hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans region, an urban area of 1.4 million people. Then, in September,Hurricane Rita struck the southwestern coast, displacing another 300,000 people. More than 200,000 housing units were destroyed, 81,000 businesses closed, entire electrical and telecommunication systems were torn apart, and one million people were made homeless as a result of severe flooding caused by levee failures and storm surges.
Many believed the immediate response from the city, state, and federal governments was inadequate, and Blanco later fully acknowledged there were failures on the part of her administration before and after the storm; however, much criticism, both locally and nationally, was directed at theFederal Emergency Management Agency and atPresident Bush, for what was seen as a slow initial response to the disaster and an inability to effectively manage, care for and deliver promised resources to those trying to evacuate from New Orleans.
Blanco announced in March 2007 that she would not seekre-election later that year, saying that she would instead "focus [her] time and energy for the [remainder of her term] on the people's work, not on [the] politics" of running for another term. In June 2011 she was diagnosed with cancer, and she died eight years later on August 18, 2019.
She was born Kathleen Marie Babineaux inNew Iberia, Louisiana, the daughter of Louis Babineaux and his wife, the former Lucille Fremin, both ofCajun ancestry. Her Babineaux grandfather was a farmer and grocer with a country store, and her father was a small businessman who moved to the rural hamlet of Coteau, a community near New Iberia with one church and one elementary school. Blanco attended Mount Carmel Academy, an all-girls school run by theRoman Catholic Sisters of Mount Carmel, which was situated on the banks ofBayou Teche.[1] In 1964, Blanco received aBachelor of Science inbusiness education from theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette, then named the University of Southwestern Louisiana.[2] She was also a member ofKappa Delta sorority.[3] On August 8, 1964, she married Raymond Blanco, a football coach and educator; the couple had six children.[2]
Following college, Blanco taught business atBreaux Bridge High School. She then worked for roughly fifteen years as a stay-at-home mom for her six children. She later worked as a District Manager for theU.S. Department of Commerce during the1980 Census initiative and with her husband, owned Coteau Consultants, a political and marketing research firm.
Prior to her election as governor, Blanco served twenty years in public office. In 1983, elected as the first woman legislator from the city of Lafayette, she served five years in theLouisiana House of Representatives. In her first term, she and her friend Evelyn Blackmon ofWest Monroe were two of only five women in both houses of the legislature.[4] Blanco in 1988 defeated theRepublicanKernan "Skip" Hand to become the first woman in Louisiana elected to theLouisiana Public Service Commission, a post that she held for seven years, She was also the first woman chairman of the PSC. She was then electedLieutenant Governor, a post that she held for eight years.
Blanco was elected on November 15, 2003, defeating her Republican opponentBobby Jindal in thegeneral election, by a margin of 52 to 48 percent. On January 12, 2004, she took the oath of office in both English and French languages, succeedingMurphy J. Foster Jr. She retained Foster's chief of staff Andy Kopplin. She named as the new state commissioner of administrationJerry Luke LeBlanc, who had succeeded her in the state House in 1989 when she became a public service commissioner.[5] Blanco traveled more than her predecessor, seeking new sources of economic development for the state. She visitedNova Scotia and in December 2004 visitedCuba to boost its trade with the state. During this controversial visit, she met with PresidentFidel Castro, with whom the United States government had no formal diplomatic relations. In 2005, Blanco also visited the Asian countries ofJapan,China, andTaiwan.
Despite the upheaval of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, she met all of her initial goals by the end of her term, most notably prioritizing education investment frompre-kindergarten to the university level. She recruited a number of businesses to Louisiana and established policies to lay a foundation for the recovery of coastal Louisiana.
As governor, she was a member of theNational Governors Association, and theDemocratic Governors Association, and served as president of theSouthern Governors' Association.
Blanco tappedDonald E. Hines, a family physician fromBunkie inAvoyelles Parish, as the president of the state Senate. He held the position during her entire administration.[6]
On August 27, 2005, Blanco, speaking about Hurricane Katrina, told the media inJefferson Parish, "I believe we are prepared. That's the one thing that I've always been able to brag about." Later that day, she issued a request for federal assistance and US$9 million in aid toU.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush, which stated,
... I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster. I am specifically requesting emergency protective measures, direct Federal Assistance, Individual and Household Program (IHP) assistance, Special Needs Program assistance, and debris removal.
Also in the request letter, the governor stated, "In response to the situation, I have taken appropriate action under State law and directed the execution of the State Emergency Plan on August 26, 2005, in accordance with Section 501 (a) of theStafford Act. A State of Emergency has been issued for the State in order to support the evacuations of the coastal areas in accordance with our State Evacuation Plan."
FEMA issued a statement, dated August 27, that President Bush authorized the allocation of federal resources, following a review of FEMA's analysis of the state's request for federal assistance. AWhite House statement of the same date also acknowledges this authorization of aid by President Bush. On August 28, Blanco sent a letter to President Bush that increased the amount of aid requested to US$130 million. MayorRay Nagin, in response to the offer of anAmtrak train to evacuate New Orleans residents, rejected the offer, declared an emergency, and then canceled it. He then flew to Dallas with his family. President George Bush now declared a State of Emergency and brought inU.S. ArmyLieutenant GeneralRussel Honoré to be in charge of all forces. The president sent members of theNational Guard, theU.S. Coast Guard, the carrierUSS Bataan, and theU.S. Air Force. It was the largest deployment of military forces within domestic territory since theUnited States Civil War.
Blanco oversaw the massive evacuation of 93% of the New Orleans area and the subsequent rescue effort utilizing state employees, law enforcement agencies from across the state and nation, citizen volunteers, and federal emergency services such as the U.S. Coast Guard and other U.S. military forces. More than 60,000 people were rescued and removed from the affected region after the storm. As Commander-in-Chief of theLouisiana National Guard, Blanco called on her fellow governors for troop reinforcement as more than a third of her own soldiers and airmen were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The response from states delivered nearly 40,000 troops to her command, one of the largest domestic activation of troops in the nation's history.
On September 1, 2005, with reports of looting and lawlessness escalating, Blanco announced she was sending 300 Louisiana National Guardsmen to supplement theNew Orleans Police Department, saying,
These troops are fresh back from Iraq. They are well-trained, experienced, battle-tested and under my orders to restore order in the streets. These are some of the 40,000 extra troops that I have demanded. They haveM-16's, and they're locked and loaded. When hoodlums victimize and inflict suffering on people at their wit's end, they're taking away our limited resources, or whatever resources we have, to save babies, or save children and to save good people. I have one message for these hoodlums. These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than willing to do so if necessary, and I expect they will.[7]
This followed President Bush's statement that looters in New Orleans and elsewhere in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina should be treated with "zero tolerance".[8]
President Bush, during a visit to Louisiana on September 2, 2005, five days after the storm, offered to federalize the Louisiana National Guard to simplify the command structure. The Governor declined because the Guard would then become part of the federal military forces and therefore lose much-needed policing powers. The President subsequently continued to press the offer, so Blanco rejected it in writing, citing the need for flexibility inNational Guard operations, particularly the need for the Guard in areas other than New Orleans where the military was not currently operating. GovernorHaley Barbour ofMississippi reportedly declined a similar offer from the President. Had either state's National Guard been federalized, they would not have been able to directly enforce state law (e.g., control looting) under the provisions of the 1878Posse Comitatus Act. It had not previously been a policy during natural disasters to combine the command of National Guard and military operations under the authority of the President. President Bush had the power to take command of a state's National Guard units under theInsurrection Act of 1807 without the agreement of a state Governor, but no President had done this sinceLyndon Johnson in the 1960s, and President Bush had so far also declined to do so. However, Blanco andMajor GeneralBennett Landreneau, LouisianaAdjutant General and senior Louisiana National Guard officer, cooperated closely[citation needed] withU.S. ArmyLieutenant GeneralHonoré, who was then commanding Federal military operations underJoint Task Force Katrina.
CNN andFox News reported the Louisiana Homeland Security Department (which operated under Blanco's authority) refused to allow theAmerican Red Cross to enter the city of New Orleans.[9][10] The[11] American Red Cross confirmed that the organization had not entered the city to provide aid but also stated that it was providing relief at the evacuation centers: "As the remaining people are evacuated from New Orleans, the most appropriate role for the Red Cross is to provide a safe place for people to stay and to see that their emergency needs are met. We are fully staffed and equipped to handle these individuals once they are evacuated." The deputy director of Louisiana's Homeland Security Department, Colonel Jay Mayeaux, stated that he asked the Red Cross to delay relief operations for 24 hours for logistical reasons, and by the time that was up, the evacuations had already begun.[citation needed]
On September 14, after President Bush had accepted responsibility for all problems that occurred at the federal level, Blanco accepted responsibility for all problems that occurred at the state level. Blanco stated, "At the state level, we must take a careful look at what went wrong and make sure it never happens again. The buck stops here, and as your governor, I take full responsibility." In 2006, aCongressional report stated that the "National Response Plan did not adequately provide a way for federal assets to quickly supplement or, if necessary, supplant first responders".[12]
Blanco continued to press President Bush and Congress for additional recovery funds for Louisiana, pointing out the disparity in assistance received by Louisiana compared to neighboring Mississippi.
Early in 2006, Blanco was inducted into theLouisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame inWinnfield.[13]
On June 19, 2006, Blanco announced that she would send the National Guard to patrol the streets of New Orleans after five teenagers were killed, in an effort to combat a greatly increased rate of violent crime.
Also on June 19, 2006, Blanco signed into law a ban on most forms of abortion (unless the life of the mother was in danger or her health would be permanently damaged) once it passed the state legislature. Although she felt exclusions for rape or incest would have "been reasonable," she felt she should not veto based on those reasons. The bill would only go into effect if the United States Supreme Court reversedRoe v. Wade.
In August 2006, Blanco filed a lawsuit and formally objected to the federalGulf of Mexico lease sale "to force the federal government to spend part of its oil and gas income from theOuter Continental Shelf to help shore up Louisiana's coastline".
In December 2006, Blanco called a special session of theLouisiana State Legislature which she intended to use to dispense $2.1 billion worth of tax cuts, teacher raises, road projects and other spending programs. Legislators allied with Blanco attempted to lift a spending cap imposed by theConstitution of Louisiana, but Republican lawmakers rejected the governor's spending measure. The high-profile defeat further eroded Blanco's political reputation.
By late 2006 and early 2007, Blanco was facing increasingly heated accusations of delays in administering the Road Home Program, a state-run program that Blanco and theLouisiana Recovery Authority had set up following Katrina in order to distribute federal aid money to Katrina victims for damage to their homes. By January 2007, fewer than 250 of an estimated 100,000 applicants had received payments from the program, and many of the payments were apparently based on assessments which grossly undervalued the cost of damage to homes.[citation needed]
Facing an upcoming re-election campaign with greatly reduced popularity, Blanco made repeated public criticisms of the administration of President Bush in January 2007. Noting that Bush neglected to mention Gulf Coast reconstruction in his2007 State of the Union Address, Blanco called for a bipartisan Congressional investigation into the conduct of the Bush administration following Katrina, to determine whether partisan politics played a role in the slow response to the storm. This call followed comments by formerFederal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) directorMichael D. Brown, who claimed[citation needed] that the White House offer to federalize the National Guard in the days following the storm was part of a plan to upstage Blanco. Blanco has also publicly stated that Mississippi received preferential treatment because its governor,Haley Barbour, is Republican.
Blanco announced on March 20, 2007, that she would not seek re-election. On January 14, 2008,Bobby Jindal succeeded her as governor.
Initially diagnosed with cancer in 2011, Blanco was treated and enteredremission. In December 2017, Blanco experienced a recurrence withocular melanoma metastatic to her liver.[14] A year later at a meeting of the civic association, the Council for a Better Louisiana, Blanco said there is "no escape" from the disease as it hadmetastasized throughout her body and she has "made peace" with her future.[15] On April 19, 2019, it was announced that she was inhospice care.[16]
Blanco died on August 18, 2019, at the St. Joseph Hospice Carpenter House in Lafayette, Louisiana.[17]
GovernorJohn Bel Edwards later ordered flags across Louisiana to remain at half staff until August 24, 2019, in her honor.[18] She wouldlie in state at theLouisiana State Capitol inBaton Rouge on August 22, 2019, becoming the fourth former Louisiana governor to achieve this honor;[19][20][21] this service would also have an open casket viewing.[21]
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 24, 1987
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen Blanco | Democratic | 7,713 (60%) | Re-elected |
| J. Luke LeBlanc | Democratic | 5,037 (40%) | Defeated |
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 1, 1988
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen Blanco | Democratic | 44,450 (32%) | Runoff |
| Kernan "Skip" Hand | Republican | 25,293 (18%) | Runoff |
| George Ackel | Democratic | 23,383 (17%) | Defeated |
| Edward "Bubby" Lyons | Democratic | 22,082 (16%) | Defeated |
| Others | n.a. | 22,314 (17%) | Defeated |
Second Ballot, November 8, 1988
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen Blanco | Democratic | 161,270 (57%) | Elected |
| Kernan "Skip" Hand | Republican | 120,392 (43%) | Defeated |
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 1, 1994
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen Blanco | Democratic | Unopposed | Elected |
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 21, 1995
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen Blanco | Democratic | 590,410 (44%) | Runoff |
| Suzanne Mayfield Krieger | Republican | 211,520 (16%) | Runoff |
| Chris John | Democratic | 206,915 (15%) | Defeated |
| Others | n.a. | 342,910 (25%) | Defeated |
Second Ballot, November 18, 1995
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen Blanco | Democratic | 964,559 (65%) | Elected |
| Suzanne Mayfield Krieger | Republican | 513,613 (35%) | Defeated |
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 23, 1999
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen Blanco | Democratic | 968,249 (80%) | Elected |
| Kevin Joseph Duplantis | Republican | 121,296 (10%) | Defeated |
| Others | n.a. | 117,467 (10%) | Defeated |
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 4, 2003
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Jindal | Republican | 443,389 (33%) | Runoff |
| Kathleen Blanco | Democratic | 250,136 (18%) | Runoff |
| Richard Ieyoub | Democratic | 223,513 (16%) | Defeated |
| Claude "Buddy" Leach | Democratic | 187,872 (14%) | Defeated |
| Others | n.a. | 257,614 (19%) | Defeated |
Second Ballot, November 15, 2003
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen Blanco | Democratic | 731,358 (52%) | Elected |
| Bobby Jindal | Republican | 676,484 (48%) | Defeated |
| Louisiana House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theLouisiana House of Representatives from the 45th district 1984–1989 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by ??? | Member of theLouisiana Public Service Commission from the 2nd District 1989–1996 | Succeeded by Jimmy Field |
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana 1996–2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Louisiana 2004–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forLieutenant Governor of Louisiana 1995, 1999 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Louisiana 2003 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
