C Ray Nagin

Perhaps it did not bode well for C. Ray Nagin, the mayor of this fraught city, that candidates for the upcoming mayoral election were asked to turn in their filing papers at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. After all, the same facility had become a fetid, lawless and ill-equipped shelter after Hurricane Katrina -- and a fiasco Nagin's critics have pointed to in questioning his response to the storm.

Is "Chocolate City," as this town was famously called, on the verge of electing a vanilla mayor? That is the political question gripping New Orleans, where white candidate Mitch Landrieu, Louisiana's lieutenant governor, has emerged as a mayoral front-runner in a city where a black population diminished by Hurricane Katrina still holds a majority -- but where fear of the loss of black political power remains palpable. Landrieu, a 49-year-old Democrat, was defeated in the 2006 mayor's race by incumbent C. Ray Nagin, who is leaving office this year because of term limits.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin is way beyond caring whether President Bush mentioned New Orleans in his State of the Union address Tuesday night. "We're 18 months into this thing. I'm tired of complaining and bellyaching," Nagin said Wednesday when asked about the speech at a news conference. The city continues its struggle to recover from Hurricane Katrina, which pummeled New Orleans in August 2005, and some observers thought the absence of Katrina recovery from Bush's speech was telling.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin, in his first State of the City address since Hurricane Katrina, said Wednesday that New Orleans was a city on the mend, despite broken promises from the state and federal governments. "New Orleans is coming back, whether you like it or not," Nagin said to applause from a crowd of city workers and community members at the National World War II Museum. "And you might as well deal with it." Nagin called on President Bush and Gov.

They are calling from all over town to lay their laurels at the mayor's feet. "I'm behind you 100%," gushes the first caller. "Thank you for stepping up to the plate," the next one says reverently. Mayor C. Ray Nagin nods, bald pate gleaming under the studio lights of WWL 870 AM. "Thank you," they say, one after the next. Ever since Nagin swept from obscurity to celebrity in last winter's elections, he has been the toast of his hometown.

The frustration, disillusionment and anger of life after Hurricane Katrina have compelled 22 people to declare that they can do a better job of running the city than Mayor C. Ray Nagin. The largest field of challengers in a modern New Orleans mayoral race includes marquee names such as Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and familiar names and faces such as radio host James Arey, city Clerk of Court Kimberly Williamson Butler and a comedian who ran in 2002 on the slogan "A Troubled Man for Troubled Times."

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin struck a tone of contrition Friday for calling the World Trade Center site "a hole in the ground," pledging never to refer to the "sacred site" that way again.

A congressman from Louisiana, the subject of an FBI investigation who was found with $90,000 in cash in his freezer, was endorsed for reelection by New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin on Saturday. "I have been effective, and I will continue to be," said eight-term Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson. "It's really based on knowledge of the Congress and relationships with members, and that doesn't change."

Mayor C. Ray Nagin, seeking to reassure his city, provided an update Friday on steps officials were taking to combat a surge in violent crime -- including increasing the use of surveillance cameras, placing more police on foot patrols and setting up a blitz of random traffic checkpoints. But many residents, frightened and angered by the crime wave that has left at least 14 dead since Jan. 1, said they were reserving judgment on the initiatives until they produced concrete results.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin, in his first State of the City address since Hurricane Katrina, said Wednesday that New Orleans was a city on the mend, despite broken promises from the state and federal governments. "New Orleans is coming back, whether you like it or not," Nagin said to applause from a crowd of city workers and community members at the National World War II Museum. "And you might as well deal with it." Nagin called on President Bush and Gov.

Sen. Barack Obama criticized the Bush administration Monday for the slow pace of Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, saying reconstruction no longer seemed to be a White House priority. "There is not a sense of urgency in this administration to get this done," said Obama (D-Ill.), who is weighing a run for president. "You get a sense that will has been lacking in the last several months."

Mayor C. Ray Nagin, seeking to reassure his city, provided an update Friday on steps officials were taking to combat a surge in violent crime -- including increasing the use of surveillance cameras, placing more police on foot patrols and setting up a blitz of random traffic checkpoints. But many residents, frightened and angered by the crime wave that has left at least 14 dead since Jan. 1, said they were reserving judgment on the initiatives until they produced concrete results.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin is way beyond caring whether President Bush mentioned New Orleans in his State of the Union address Tuesday night. "We're 18 months into this thing. I'm tired of complaining and bellyaching," Nagin said Wednesday when asked about the speech at a news conference. The city continues its struggle to recover from Hurricane Katrina, which pummeled New Orleans in August 2005, and some observers thought the absence of Katrina recovery from Bush's speech was telling.

To hear Mayor C. Ray Nagin and his supporters tell it, New Orleans has made remarkable progress since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city almost 15 months ago, and is moving forward in leaps and bounds. Water, sewage and electrical services are back to all inhabited neighborhoods. Telephone service is fully operational. Trash pickup has been enhanced. Several new commercial developments have been approved, or are underway.

A congressman from Louisiana, the subject of an FBI investigation who was found with $90,000 in cash in his freezer, was endorsed for reelection by New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin on Saturday. "I have been effective, and I will continue to be," said eight-term Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson. "It's really based on knowledge of the Congress and relationships with members, and that doesn't change."

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin struck a tone of contrition Friday for calling the World Trade Center site "a hole in the ground," pledging never to refer to the "sacred site" that way again.

Discouraged by the city's prospects for a rapid financial recovery after Hurricane Katrina, Mayor C. Ray Nagin proposed Friday to allow large hotels in its central city district to convert into Las Vegas-style gambling casinos. Nagin said the move would help jump-start the beleaguered local economy and would generate an estimated $150 million in extra revenues, which the city and the state would split evenly.

A temporary ban on constructing clusters of trailers in New Orleans neighborhoods was lifted by Mayor C. Ray Nagin on Wednesday, after he decided the benefits outweighed his reservations and homeowners' resistance to having a group of trailers nearby. Nagin's change of heart will allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to continue to install group housing at 113 sites throughout the city.

A day after winning a second term, Mayor C. Ray Nagin predicted that about 300,000 people would be living in the city by year's end and that an economic boom would make New Orleans "a vibrant city" within three years. "We have probably the most important opportunity ever in the city of New Orleans' history," Nagin told reporters Sunday after attending Mass at St. Peter Claver Church in the city's Treme neighborhood, where he grew up.

Savoring the vote of confidence Saturday that gave him a second term, Mayor C. Ray Nagin called for unity in the storm-ravaged city, saying it's "time for this community to start the healing process.... It's time for us to set the stage for recovery." Nagin won 52% of the 113,591 ballots cast in the runoff contest with Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu. Nearly 38% of registered voters turned out. His victory solidifies his leadership role in one of the toughest reconstruction projects in U.S. history.