La. holds gubernatorial election

BATON ROUGE, La., Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-La., who lost a gubernatorial race in 2003 to Kathleen Blanco, could win this year without a runoff, late polls in Louisiana indicate.

The election Saturday occurs under the state's unusual rules. Candidates contend in the primary without regard to party affiliation, and if no one wins 50 percent of the vote, the two top vote-getters meet in a runoff.

Jindal, a conservative Republican, seems an unlikely candidate in the Deep South, especially in a state where David Duke was once a Republican candidate, The New York Times reported.

Jindal's parents were immigrants from India, and he attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He was given the name Piyush at birth and adopted the nickname Bobby from watching "The Brady Bunch" on TV.

Blanco narrowly defeated Jindal in 2003. She decided not to seek a second term after Hurricane Katrina, and her response to it, became an issue.

Louisiana's more prominent Democrats decided to stay out of the race, so Jindal faces several second-tier candidates, the Times said.