Thaindian News

Washington, Oct 23 (IANS) Louisiana’s Indian American Governor Bobby Jindal has been re-elected to a second term, winning in a landslide with little opposition from nine other candidates in a bi-partisan primary.

“You’ve chosen me to be your governor,” Jindal, who at age 36, was the youngest US governor when first elected in 2007, and the first Indian American governor, said at his campaign headquarters in Baton Rouge after his re-election Saturday.

“I’m truly humbled and honoured by the trust and privilege you’ve bestowed upon me.” Pledging to “never coast” as long as he remains the state’s chief executive, Jindal added: “I will give you my all.”

Jindal, who was widely favoured to win, had 66 percent of the vote with 98 percent precincts reporting, according to unofficial results from Louisiana’s Secretary of State cited by CNN.

His next closest competitor, Democrat Tara Hollis, got about 18 percent of the vote. The eight other candidates pulled in low single digits.

The state holds a nonpartisan blanket primary, meaning both political parties run in the same contest and if a candidate wins 50 percent or more of the vote, then he or she wins the race.

If Jindal had failed to get a majority, he would have gone head-to-head with the second place candidate Nov 19.

Jindal, who won his first term in 2007 with 54 percent of the vote, faced little opposition this time around.

Early in his first term, Jindal was widely considered a rising Republican star. Speculation about his potential 2012 presidential run started almost as soon as President Barack Obama took office in January 2009.

But he repeatedly denied any intention to run for president this year and now backs Texas Governor Rick Perry for the Republican presidential nomination.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)