If you think about political machines in New Orleans you might think first about Huey Long and the Regular Democratic Organizations. You would be right and wrong. Those guys ruled the city until 1946 and have continued to be an influence in the state. Their political symbol, a chicken (as in "one in every pot" not cowardice), commanded top spot on ballots rather than the national democratic organization's donkey. Voting the party line was the norm. But  that ended decades ago.  The changing racial composition of the city dictated the formation of new organizations and new means of mobilizing the black voting power in Orleans.

Pre-K political machines in New Orleans were analyzed in 1997 by a Clancy DuBos piece that appeared in Gambit Magazine. Click to read this dated by still useful article.

DuBos provides insight into the black politial organizations like SOUL, BOLD, COUP and LIFE and the Progressive Democrats that replaced the Old Regular Democratic Organization in New Orleans in the late 1960's. The new organizations have been the prevailing power in the city since 1969. The DuBos article shows how they raise funds and get the vote out on election day for their candidates.

Landrieu's Moon and Mary have been beneficiaries of the black machines. Woody Jenkins tried to challenge the machine in his bid for the Senate in 1996 but lost in a squeaker. Mary defended her seat in 2002 against Suzanne Terrell by again polling an overwhelming majority of the black Orleans votes.

The Morials (Ernest "Dutch" and son Marc, both mayors) propelled the LIFE organization to new heights virtually taking over the city between 1978 and 2002. In this time frame SOUL (Sherman Copelin and Jon Johnson)  faded and BOLD added new blood (Oliver Thomas) in an effort to stay relevant.

Until 2002 the machines were able to control the mayoral and most local elections. They propelled William Jefferson to Congress, supported Democrats for national office and controlled the City Council, the Courts, the School Board and just about every local office.

Nagin's first election was an enigma. He drew 80% of the white vote and only 40% of the black vote against machine supported black opposition. He had no machine support of his own but tapped into a few key endorsements and strong anti-corruption sentiment that had been brewing in the city. A scant 29% of voters supported him in a crowded primary that was marked by the self-destruction of front runner Paulette Irons, but 29% was enough to get to the runoff which he won easily against Jefferson supported Police Chief Richard Pennington.

Ironically machine support propelled Blanco to office when they opposed Bobby Jindal and delivered a block of votes in the inner city to Kathleen Blanco. The ironry stems from their supporting a white female over a minority, however Jindal is a member of the wrong minority and sounds far too white when he speaks.

Post-K Silas Lee, Ed Renwick and a host of other political commentators are scrambling to figure out whether the political organizations will continue to be effective. With many of their voters among those displaced and still out of state, the traditional neighborhood GOTV approach won't work. FEMA has been reluctant to share lists although there is significant agitation to get those lists into the machine organizers hands. Even with the lists legal electioneering practices may not work via long distance. Finally the heads of the two most powerful organizations, Jefferson and Morial continue to operate under the cloud of federal investigations.

Tom Watson running for Mayor aligned with COUP
Oliver Thomas - Council-At-Large - BOLD
Bill Jefferson - US Congress - Progressive Democrats

An excerpt from the DuBos piece fillows:

"In the beginning, there were the Old Regulars -- formally known as the Regular Democratic Organization the first modern political "machine" in Louisiana. The Old Regulars ran New Orleans from 1896 until 1946, electing every mayor but one and controlling every citywide vote.

The Old Regulars are still around, but in a much smaller way. Today in New Orleans, the political big dogs have names such as SOUL, BOLD, LIFE and the Progressive Democrats. There are countless smaller groups as well, with names like SMOOTH, MODE, LOVE, GOLD and GAVEL.

The day SOUL, BOLD and COUP the first major black political groups of the post-civil rights era -- helped Moon Landrieu win the mayor's office in '69, they and other similar organizations catapulted themselves into the forefront of local and statewide politics. They have remained there primarily because they can still "deliver votes" on election day.

It starts and ends with getting people to the polls. "The tactics of black political organization are all about getting out the vote," said New Orleans City Council member Oliver Thomas (D), a prominent member of the Black Organization for Leadership Development (BOLD).