Helena Moreno elected mayor of New Orleans
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Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Courtesy of the Moreno campaign.
Helena Moreno is New Orleans' new mayor after garnering 55% of the vote in Saturday's primary.
Why it matters: The City Council vice president was able to prevent a runoff with other hopefuls Royce Duplessis and Oliver Thomas.
The big picture: She led the polls all night, before declaring victory at 9:37pm with 229 of the 349 precincts reporting.
- "New Orleans, you are my everything," she said in her acceptance speech, shouting out voters who are "ready to take our city in a new direction."
- She hit on her priorities — better infrastructure, more jobs and other improvements because "it is just too hard to live here."
- "While some may see a broken city, I actually see so many solutions," she says.
Zoom in: Moreno's victory party at the Civic was popping, with supporters and celebrities dancing to hype songs from Rihanna and other powerful women while eating bites from Southerns, Morrow's and Toups'.
- She danced onstage with former mayoral candidate Desirée Charbonnet after former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond introduced her for the first time as the mayor-elect.
- City Council President JP Morrell, who was re-elected Saturday, was onstage with Moreno too.
- Gov. Jeff Landry tweeted his congratulations just after 10pm, saying he looks "forward to working together to create a better New Orleans."
Zoom out: Thomas and Duplessis conceded at their campaign watch parties, according to WWL's live coverage.
- Moreno told Axios around 10:30pm that she hadn't heard from either of them but — "I'll be honest with you, I haven't had my phone for like the past hour."
How it works: For the primary, the candidate with more than 50 percent of the vote wins outright.
- If no candidates reached that threshold, the top two would have a runoff Nov. 15.
By the numbers: Moreno got 55% of the vote, with all precincts totaled as of 10:30pm. More than 105,000 residents cast their ballots in the race.
- Duplessis got 22%.
- Thomas got 19%.
- Frank Janusa, the only Republican on the ballot, got 2%.
- The other eight candidates on the ballot, including Arthur Hunter who dropped out of the race, got the remaining votes.
State of play: Moreno was the frontrunner in polls and fundraising since she announced her run last year.
- She's served on the City Council for eight years. Previously, she was a state legislator and a WDSU reporter.
- She previously told Axios she'll spend her first 100 days in office "fixing City Hall" operations and staffing so "New Orleanians get the basic services they deserve."
- She takes office Jan. 12, 2026.
Go deeper: Full election results