Five Dems sign up to challenge Jefferson on first qualifying day
WWL's Mike Conti Reporting
Indicted Second District Congressman William Jefferson (D-New Orleans center left) will have no fewer than five challengers in his own party as he seeks his ninth term in office.
Six candidates, including Jefferson, qualified for the September 6 primary on Wednesday's first day of qualifying.
Along with Jefferson, qualifiers include first term New Orleans City Councilman James Carter (D-New Orleans center right), former New Orleans City Councilman Troy Carter (D-Algiers bottom left), Jefferson Parish Councilman Byron Lee (D-Marrero top left), former television news anchor Helena Moreno (D-New Orleans bottom right) and State Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-New Orleans top right).
Moreno, Troy Carter and James Carter all took time to blast Jefferson over his political and legal woes Wednesday.
"He's compromised in his ability to be effective because of his legal situation," said James Carter.
"Obviously (Jefferson) has issues that he will have to deal with," said Troy Carter.
"What frustrates me is that right now, we truly don't have representation for Orleans Parish, because the current member of congress is ranked so low and his committees have been stripped," said Moreno.
Others, like Richmond, told reporters he would not address the Jefferson issue.
"We have all sinned, and your job is to point out the sins of all the candidates," said Richmond. "And I don't think the people of Orleans and Jefferson Parish want to hear me talk about the other candidates."
Lee declined to comment, and Jefferson qualified by proxy and was unavailable for comment.
Green Party candidate Malik Rahim also qualified Wednesday. No Republicans qualified. The qualification period wraps up Friday.
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