Democrat Wins Runoff Election in Louisiana
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 15 ? Lt. Gov. Kathleen B. Blanco, a Democrat, defeated Piyush Jindal, the Republican whiz kid, to become the first woman elected governor of Louisiana in a runoff on Saturday.

With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Ms. Blanco finished with 52 percent of the vote, The Associated Press reported.

Ms. Blanco carried her native Cajun area and trounced Mr. Jindal in New Orleans, where he had the endorsement of the Democratic mayor. Ms. Blanco also held her own in Mr. Jindal's home city of Baton Rouge, while Mr. Jindal ran strong in the heavily Republican suburbs of New Orleans, The A.P. said.

"The people of Louisiana have spoken," Ms. Blanco said. "We have sent a new message out to the nation ? that this is a new Louisiana."

Mr. Jindal maintained his sense of humor, and the first words of his concession speech were: "At least, the Tigers won tonight," a reference to the state university's football team.

Mr. Jindal also said that he was "disappointed but not discouraged." He urged businesses to come to the state and his campaign workers to keep working for Louisiana.

Until now, Louisiana had sent an uninterrupted line of white men to the governor's mansion. The only exception was P.B.S. Pinchback, a black Republican who served as acting governor during Reconstruction for 35 days.