The man they are calling the Republican party's Barack Obama scored a stunning victory in the Lousiana gubernatorial race on Saturday. The 36 year-old son of immigrants from India, Bobby Jindal won 54% of the vote in the state's open primary, with the majority enough to avoid the need for a run-off.
Louisiana's politics have always been unusual, but the after-effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita - which exposed incompetence by both federal and state institutions, as well as denuding parts of the state of Democrat-supporting black voters - helped propel Jindal to the governor's mansion. Jindal also becomes the first Indian-American to be elected governor.
Jindal has long been a favourite of conservative bloggers, where there was much joy at the victory, the first bright note for Republicans since the 2006 midterms.
Update: My colleague Kevin Anderson corrects me on the number of "non-white" elected governors. Read on...
While Douglas Wilder was the first African-American to be elected governor, the election of non-white governors in the US stretches back to 1974 (not including appointed governors, during reconstruction, or of territories):
George Ariyoshi of Hawaii, 1974 - Japanese-American
Raul Castro of Arizona, 1974 - Mexican-American
John Waihe'e of Hawaii, 1986 - native Hawaiian
Bob Martinez of Florida, 1987 - Hispanic/Latino
Douglas Wilder of Virginia, 1990 - African-American
Ben Cayetano of Hawaii, 1994 - Filipino-American
Bill Richardson of New Mexico, 2002 - Hispanic/Latino
Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, 2006 - African-American
Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, 2007 - Indian-American
