Louisiana insurance commissioner retained

BATON ROUGE, La.--Insurance Commissioner James J. "Jim" Donelon has narrowly retained his seat in a special statewide election.

According to unofficial results from the special election held Saturday, Mr. Donelon, a Republican, received 50.1% of the vote. His closest challenger, state Sen. James David Cain, R-Dry Creek, received 39%. S.B.A. Zaitoon, a Libertarian, received 11%.

The Louisiana Secretary of State's office will take steps to formally certify the results on Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman for that office. No challenge is expected at this time, sources say.

The 19% of voters who participated were choosing a commissioner to serve the final year of the term of Robert Wooley, who resigned in February to join a private law firm. Mr. Donelon, who was Mr. Wooley's chief assistant, took on the position until the election.

State law requires that the interim insurance commissioner run again in 2007, the spokeswoman said.