Roemer Becomes Louisiana Governor
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BATON ROUGE, La. — Buddy Roemer, a self-styled reformer who faces a fiscal crisis, Monday became Louisiana’s 51st governor and called on the state to “free our political leadership from the stranglehold of special interests.”
Gov. Edwin W. Edwards won enough votes in last year’s primary to call a runoff with Roemer under Louisiana’s unique election laws, but conceded to Roemer, a fellow Democrat, on Oct. 24.
The state faces the immediate problems of a four-year, $1.2-billion budget deficit and a cash shortage that threatens to shut down the government.
Louisiana’s unemployment rate hit 12% in January, one of the highest in the nation, due primarily to the long downturn in the oil and gas industry.
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