<p>BATON ROUGE - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is backing former state Senate President Randy Ewing for governor, raising the Jackson Parish resident's political profile in the Crescent City.</p>
<p>"It is symbolically significant for a man from North Louisiana to get the endorsement of the mayor of the largest city in South Louisiana," retired Southern University political scientist Frank Ransburg of Zachary said of the endorsement announced Tuesday.</p>