BATON ROUGE, La.

Jindal coasts to second term as governor

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal easily coasted to a second term Saturday, winning in a landslide election after failing to attract any well-known or deep-pocketed opposition.

The 40-year-old Republican overwhelmed nine competitors in an open primary, where a candidate wins the race outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote.

Jindal piled up $15 million in campaign cash from around the nation and attracted no Democratic challengers with statewide name recognition or fundraising heft. He’s had consistently high approval ratings since taking office in 2008.

The first Indian-American governor in the United States, Jindal is considered by some a possible presidential contender in the future.

SAN FRANCISCO

Google considers financing potential buyout of Yahoo

Google Inc. is considering providing financing for an acquisition of Yahoo Inc. by another company or a group of bidders, according to a person who has been briefed on the matter.

The company may opt not to take part in any offer and hasn’t engaged in serious discussions with would-be partners, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

Yahoo is weighing strategic options after firing CEO Carol Bartz, in part for failing to keep pace with Google in the online advertising market.

Google, which is under regulatory scrutiny from governments around the world, may lend its financial support to preserve Yahoo as a rival and bolster competition in the Internet industry, said analyst Greg Sterling at Opus Research in San Francisco.

“If competition dissipates or diminishes, then the hand of regulators is strengthened,” Sterling said.

Google, which has $42.6 billion in cash and short-term investments, is considering helping finance other bidders rather than trying to acquire Yahoo outright, the person said.

Representatives of Yahoo and Google declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Google is considering financing a bid by private equity firms for Yahoo.

— From news service reports

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