New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell can rest easy for now. The recall petition that was organized in an attempt to oust her from office failed because it did not collect enough signatures. The total number of signatures on the petition fell short of the necessary number needed to proceed with the recall process. If enough signatures had been collected and verified, the voters would have had the opportunity to go to the polls and vote on the matter. Alas, it was not meant to be.

According to Orleans Parish Registrar of Voters Sandra Wilson, recall organizers collected just 27,243 valid signatures during their six-month, $1.2 million push to depose Cantrell, whose popularity had plummeted amid voter discontent over crime and other issues.

That figure, which Wilson reported to Gov. John Bel Edwards, was some 18,000 signatures short of the nearly 45,000 signatures needed to trigger a recall election.

Oh well. New Orleans’s corrupt government lives on. What a shock. I love the city, or I did until the murders and other crimes got completely out of control. I have not visited the city in a while.

New Orleans has had a Democrat mayor since 1872. Every single one of them. No one thinks a Republican can beat the incumbent Democrat. The co-organizers of the recall were both Democrats. It’s a Democrat city but the State of Louisiana is mostly a red state. Governor John Bel Edwards is a Democrat but a more moderate Democrat than most. For instance, he is unapologetically pro-life.

When the petition signatures were turned in, meeting the legal deadline, the atmosphere was turned into one of a party. There was dancing and a brass band played. However, on Tuesday, after the signature tally was announced, the recall campaign issued a statement thanking voters who signed on the recall. They blamed state law and the Times-Picayune for their loss. They promised legal options are being explored by the recall campaign.

Many legal experts agree that a legal challenge is a long shot, given the substantial shortfall of signatures. Nonetheless, a curious question remains.

While the huge shortfall suggests that any legal challenge will be a long shot, questions remain about why Wilson rejected more than 99% of signatures that organizers submitted in a second document dump on Feb. 27, five days after their first deadline.

An attorney for Wilson said Tuesday that the vast majority of those documents failed to meet the legal requirements for adding signatures during the five-day “grace period.” Recall organizers, who’ve gone silent in recent weeks, have refused to answer questions about why they delayed before making the second run.

The failed recall will likely give Mayor Cantrell a boost in her favorability. Or not, depending just how fed up city residents are with her. I mean, they weren’t fed up enough to see a recall through so maybe they are okay with her. She’s a Democrat and that is really all that matters. Plus there is the bonus that Cantrell is a black woman – the first female mayor of the city. What are you, sexist? She released a statement.

“My administration has always remained focused on addressing the real pressing issues that face our city,” said Cantrell. “Now, with the divisiveness of the failed recall campaign officially behind us, we must heal and recommit ourselves to working collaboratively to continue the progress we’ve made towards reducing crime, increasing public safety, building a more sustainable and resilient city, and creating economic and job opportunities that benefit all of our people.”

I’ve been writing about the recall since its beginning. It was an interesting story that included the fact that one of the recall’s co-organizers was a former City Hall staffer. She turned on the boss and then tried to get her former boss fired by the voters of New Orleans. Intrigue. And there were other elements, too. A sex storyline was introduced by rumors that the mayor was having an affair with one of the men on her security detail. Cantrell is just so brazen in her corruptness. She uses a city apartment in the French Quarter as her own personal apartment. She sleeps there regularly though her home is nearby. She insists on traveling first class on planes. The police department’s morale is so low that police officers are either retiring early or deciding not to renew their employment contracts. It is hard to recruit new police officers so the shortage continues. Residents point their fingers at the mayor.

To be honest, my first reaction to the news that the recall failed so spectacularly was to think, “That’s so New Orleans.” Why expect anything different? Nothing will change in the city until voters have finally had enough. So many people have financial incentives to help continue the status quo, though, that it’s not likely to happen any time soon.