Karen Carter Peterson - Loss To Jefferson, 2006

Loss To Jefferson, 2006

Peterson was a candidate for U.S. Congress in Louisiana's 2nd congressional district (map) in the mid-term election of November 2006. She, along with several other candidates, challenged incumbent Democrat Bill Jefferson, who was already the subject of an FBI investigation. She finished in second place with 19,972 votes (21.6% of the total votes cast), and therefore she and Jefferson entered a runoff round of voting on December 9, 2006. Jefferson prevailed by a 57%-43% margin, the lowest since his original election in 1990.

In the 2006 Congressional election, Peterson received endorsements from prominent Republican businessmen Joe Canizaro and Boysie Bollinger. She was also endorsed by both the Louisiana state and Orleans Parish branches of the Democratic Party, a normally unusual development given that the parties support their incumbent members. She centered her campaign around the argument that Jefferson's corruption scandal left New Orleans with a lack of credible and respected representation in Congress. Jefferson, in turn, accused Peterson of profiting from no-bid "sweetheart" contracts with the New Orleans City Council as their legal advisor for utility regulation. In the 2008 elections Jefferson won a contentious runoff primary over challenger Helena Moreno but was subsequently defeated in the general election by Republican Joseph Cao. In 2009 Jefferson was convicted of 11 felonies.