Kathleen Blanco

Kathleen Babineaux Blanco [ kæθli ː n bæbɪnoʊ blæŋkoʊ ] (* December 15 1942 in New Iberia, Louisiana) is an American politician. On November 15, 2003, she was elected to the office of the Governor of Louisiana and thus defeated their Republican rivals, Bobby Jindal in a runoff election. She was the first woman who was holding office in Louisiana.

Kathleen Blanco is a member of the Democratic Party. She graduated in 1964 at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Prior to her work as she was Governor from 1996 to 2004 Deputy Governor; 1984 to 1988 she served on the House of Representatives from Louisiana.

During her time as Deputy Governor Mike Foster they accelerated the development of tourism in the state. Their efforts led to the " Franco Fête ", a nationwide celebration of French influence in Louisiana, which lasts for 300 years. The festivities attracted many tourists, especially from France and Canada, to. Blanco also coordinated a further tourism success: the celebration of the 200th anniversary.

It was widely criticized for their response to Hurricane Katrina and lost the gubernatorial elections on 20 October 2007. Rival candidate Bobby Jindal was doing as the first non - white governor since 1873 in Louisiana. He won with 54 percent of the vote. Jindal was sworn in on 14 January 2008 as the successor Blancos.