Bobby Jindal Pledges to End Corruption in Louisiana

Bobby Jindal pledged to end corruption in Louisiana after winning the governor's race Oct. 20 and becoming the first Indian-American chosen to lead a U.S. state.

Jindal, 36, won the election outright in the primary after gaining 54 percent of the votes, according to results tallied by the Louisiana Secretary of State's office. Four years ago, Jindal won the primary without enough votes to avoid a runoff and lost the general election to Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco, who declined to run again in the wake of criticism of her handling of the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

``Our state has been depicted as a haven for incompetence and corruption. We have some of that, just like every state does,'' Jindal said in a victory speech posted on the New Orleans Times Picayune's Web site. ``Those days are now officially over. We are serving notice. Louisiana is very soon going to be on the rise.''

Jindal, a Bush administration supporter in Congress, was the only Republican running for governor in a state where Democrats make up about half the registered voters and outnumber Republicans two-to-one. Since Katrina and Rita in 2005, tens of thousands of New Orleans residents who historically voted Democratic have been dislocated.

The Secretary of State's office reports 56,995 fewer Democratic voters now than when the hurricane hit, and 11,355 fewer black Democrats. Those numbers understate reality because at least two years must elapse before the state purges former residents from voter rolls, office spokesman Jacques Berry said.