It's a different story when you aren't just polling high school students

The mayor's race is over.

Questions surrounding LaToya Cantrell's use of a taxpayer-financed credit card have done nothing to diminish her commanding lead in the New Orleans mayor's race, according to the first poll to be publicly disclosed since the Oct. 14 primary.

Instead, the survey by the education advocacy group Democrats for Education Reform found Cantrell's nine-point advantage that night over former city judge Desiree Charbonnet has doubled despite the whiff of scandal.

Cantrell, a sitting city councilwoman, was 18 points ahead, 44 percent to Charbonnet's 26 percent, when the polling concluded Nov. 2. The survey began Oct. 24 with plans to target 600 likely voters, but the research firm LJR Custom Strategies added another 400 after news broke about Cantrell's spending.

The only caveat here is "Democrats for Education Reform" is a national anti-union group with a clear interest in promoting Cantrell. Still I'd be surprised if this isn't close to the actual spread in the runoff.