March 6, 2010
Susan Guidry: 62%, 8,059 votes
[representing 79% of her primary vote of 10,173]
Jay Batt: 38%, 4,869 votes,
[representing 54% of his primary vote of 9046]

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Attachment:   Final Flier Web Version.pdf

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Attachment:   Chart Jay Batt Republican.pdf

By Frank Donze, Times Picayune, March 5, 2010

Campaign season ended early for veteran legislator Karen Carter Peterson after she cruised to victory last month, winning a special election for an open seat in the state Senate.

But Peterson has landed in the crossfire of the heated runoff contest for the District A seat on the City Council, where she is backing political newcomer and fellow Democrat Susan Guidry.

The race on Saturday's ballot matches Guidry, a lawyer, against Republican Jay Batt, who is seeking to reclaim the post he lost four years ago. Batt lost a bid for re-election in 2006 to Shelley Midura, who is backing Guidry.

This week, Batt slammed Peterson with a campaign mailer alleging that her endorsement of Guidry is part of a "back room" deal to reacquire a consulting contract she lost in 2000 with the council's Utility Committee. The flier also attempts to make a connection between Guidry and the leaders of BOLD, Peterson's political organization.

BOLD, which has taken no position in the District A race, supported Batt when he won the seat 2002. Finance reports from that campaign show that Batt made a $15,000 payment to BOLD to cover his share of the costs for printing and mailing the organization's ballot.

By Michelle Krupa, The Times-Picayune, March 05, 2010

In his quest to reclaim the District A seat on the New Orleans City Council, Republican Jay Batt has pumped nearly $600,000 into his campaign war chest, about four times the amount invested by Democrat Susan Guidry, his opponent in Saturday's runoff.

Batt's hefty investment includes more than $83,000 from his own pocket, not including $64,300 in personal loans that the businessman has already recouped from his campaign. Guidry has raised about $165,200, including $60,000 of her own money, according to records filed with the state Ethics Administration.

By Frank Donze, The Times-Picayune, March 04, 2010

In his bid to reclaim the District A seat on the New Orleans City Council he lost four years ago, Republican businessman Jay Batt has tried to link ACORN, the controversial anti-poverty group under federal investigation, to Democrat Susan Guidry, his opponent in Saturday's runoff.

But Guidry, a lawyer, turned the tables on him during a Tuesday night forum by reminding the 100 or so residents in attendance that Batt ran with ACORN's enthusiastic support during his failed re-election bid four years ago.

Batt vehemently denied the charge.

"I've never had the endorsement of ACORN. I've never paid them," Batt said, according to an account of the Tuesday meeting in Lakeview by Gambit editor Kevin Allman. "I've never been part of them. It's not even in my vernacular. So . . . it's untrue."

After the meeting, Gambit posted a story online that cited an entry from Batt's 2006 campaign blog that headlined the ACORN endorsement in bold type. The 2006 posting included a statement from Batt that said he would be "proud" to work with the group "on finding common ground."

On Wednesday, Batt issued a statement acknowledging that he had "unintentionally" erred in those comments.

By Frank Donze, The Times-Picayune, March 01, 2010

As the leader of the Anybody But Batt group, Hardie largely bankrolled and masterminded the successful push to oust the Republican businessman as the council's District A representative four years ago. Now, as Batt tries to reclaim the seat in a Saturday runoff against Democrat Susan Guidry, Hardie is back with a vengeance.