By Bob Benenson, CQ Staff

Louisiana officials have postponed Saturday’s scheduled primary elections until Oct. 4, as the state struggles to recover from the damage and power outages caused earlier this week by the landfall of Hurricane Gustav along the state’s south-central coast.

The delay, among other impacts, means voters in the New Orleans-based 2nd Congressional District must wait nearly a month to determine the political fate of nine-term Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson , who is seeking re-election even though he is awaiting trial on federal charges of accepting bribes. Seven Democratic candidates filed to challenge Jefferson in the primary.

The revised election schedule could result in a three-part process in the 2nd and also in the 4th District race to succeed retiring long-time Republican Rep. Jim McCrery , if primary runoffs are needed in those contests — which would delay the outcomes until general elections are held on Dec. 6.

Although residents and public officials breathed sighs of relief that Hurricane Gustav did not cause the kind of catastrophic death and destruction that Hurricane Katrina visited on New Orleans and its environs in 2005, it did cause widespread evacuations, pockets of serious wind damage, flooding and electrical blackouts that utility companies still are working to repair. The official postponement of the primary elections underscores that Gustav was one of the most politically disruptive storms in recent years, as the threat it posed for Gulf Coast states also prompted Republican Party officials to greatly reduce their scheduled program for the opening session of their national convention in St. Paul, Minn., last Monday.

Here is how the key congressional elections in the state will be staged under the new schedule.

General elections will coincide with the national Election Day of Nov. 4, as planned, for contests in which the candidate fields are already set without primary competition or in which the primary now scheduled for Oct. 4 is certain to produce outright nominees for the general elections. These include:

• The Senate race in which Democratic Sen. Mary L. Landrieu faces a serious challenge from Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy. J. Jacques Boudreaux, a landscape contractor who initially filed to run against Kennedy in the Republican primary withdrew from the race. CQ Politics rates the general election contest as Leans Democratic.

• The 6th District race for the seat that Democrat Don Cazayoux won in a May 3 special election to succeed veteran Republican Rep. Richard H. Baker , who resigned to lobby for the hedge fund industry. Cazayoux, whose victory was regarded as an upset in this Republican-leaning district that includes Baton Rouge, faces a tough fight with Republican state Sen. Bill Cassidy — and his chances of winning a full term are complicated by the independent candidacy of Michael Jackson, an African-American state representative who lost the Democratic special election primary to Cazayoux. CQ Politics rates the general election as No Clear Favorite.

• The 7th District contest in which the general election matchup between Republican Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. and Democratic state Sen. Donald Cravins Jr. is already set. CQ Politics rates the general election as Republican Favored.

There also are the two important races in which there are multiple candidate fields for the Oct. 4 primary. If all party nominations are settled outright with winners taking majority votes, these contests will be resolved in general elections held with the others on Nov. 4. If no candidate receives a majority vote in a primary, the top two vote-getters will move to primary runoffs scheduled for Nov. 4, with the general elections in those cases delayed until Dec. 6.

The races in which this matters are:

• The 2nd District race in which the embattled Jefferson is challenged by Democrats James Carter, a New Orleans city councilman; Troy Carter, a former state representative and former New Orleans city councilman who ran against Jefferson in 2006, taking 12 percent to finish fifth overall (and fourth among Democrats) in that year’s open-ballot primary; Jimmy Fahrenholtz, a member of the New Orleans school board; Byron L. Lee, a councilman in Jefferson Parish; Helena Moreno, a former television journalist; state Rep. Cedric Richmond; and Kenya J.H. Smith, a former aide to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. The winner, whether produced outright by the Oct. 4 primary or by a Nov. 4 runoff, with face Republican Anh “Joseph” Cao, a lawyer who is unopposed for his party’s nomination for the general election. CQ Politics rates the general election as Safe Democratic.

• The general election outcome appears far more uncertain in the northern 4th District. The retirement decision by McCrery, who has held the seat for more than 20 years and is ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, has prompted a serious takeover bid by the Democratic strategists who have aligned with candidate Paul Carmouche, the long-serving district attorney in the parish that includes Shreveport. But Carmouche first must contend in a Democratic primary that also includes lawyer Willie Banks; Artis “Doc” Cash, a losing Democratic candidate for the seat in 2006; and John Milkovich, who lost overwhelmingly to McCrery as the sole Democratic candidate in 2002. Republicans have a three-way competition for their nomination among Jeff Thompson, a lawyer who is backed by McCrery and some House Republican leaders; John Fleming, a physician; and Chris Gorman, a trucking company executive. Two independent candidates, Chester T. Kelley and Gerard J. Bowen Jr., also are in the race.