Clarence Ray Nagin (born June 11, 1956 in New Orleans) is the Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana. He was elected in May 2002, succeeding Marc Morial.
Nagin received a B.S. degree in accounting from Tuskegee University in 1978 and an M.B.A. degree from Tulane University in 1994. He and his wife, Seletha Smith Nagin, have three children: Jeremy, Jarin, and Tianna.
Before his election, Nagin was a member of the United States Republican Party and had little political experience; he was a vice president and general manager at Cox Communications, a cable communications company and subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Nagin did give donations periodically to candidates, namely President George W. Bush and former Republican U.S. Representative Billy Tauzin in 1999 and 2000, while also giving to Democratic U.S. Senators John Breaux and J. Bennett Johnston earlier in the decade.
Days before filing for the New Orleans Mayoral race in February 2002, Nagin switched his party registration to the United States Democratic Party, presumably in order to have a chance at any success in the race in heavily Democratic New Orleans. Shortly before the primary election, an endorsement praising Nagin as a reformer by Gambit Magazine gave him crucial momentum that would carry through for the primary election and runoff. In the first round of the crowded mayoral election in February 2002, Nagin received first place with 29% of the vote, against such opponents as Police Chief Richard Pennington, State Senator Paulette Irons, City Councilman Troy Carter and others. In the runoff with Pennington in May 2002, Nagin won with 59% of the vote. His campaign was largely self-financed.
Shortly after taking office, Nagin launched an anti-corruption campaign within city government, which included crackdowns on the city's Taxicab Bureau and Utilities Department. Nagin also made a controversial endorsement of current Republican U.S. Representative Bobby Jindal in the 2003 Louisiana Gubernatorial Runoff over current Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco, and only reluctantly endorsed U.S. Senator John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential race.
On August 28, 2005, Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina approached the Gulf Coast of the United States. Katrina made landfall on August 29, causing severe damage to most parts of New Orleans.
On August 31, Nagin estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people died as a result of the hurricane, one of the nation's worst ever.
Another person who's "convictions" sway with the wind direction and polls. Just what we need in an emergency.
Back to basics:
Lead, follow, of get the Hell out of the way .....
Works for me.