Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu was elected mayor of New Orleans in a landslide Saturday. He will replace term-limited Ray Nagin and become the majority-black city’s first white mayor since 1979.
Landrieu, a 49-year-old moderate Democrat, defeated 10 opponents in a campaign that focused on the city’s slow recovery from Hurricane Katrina, violent crime and slumping city finances. The city’s last white mayor was Landrieu’s father, Moon Landrieu.
Voting came amid Carnival celebrations and preparations for the New Orleans Saints’ appearance today in the Super Bowl.
As returns came in, jubilation spread through the Landrieu headquarters in a hotel ballroom – festooned with black and gold balloons in a nod to the football team. A brass band played Mardi Gras music.
Among the other candidates were businessman John Georges, also white, who spent $3.4 million of his own money on his campaign, and Troy Henry, a black business consultant who made his first political run.
Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne projected turnout as high as 45 percent in a city where registered voters number more than 273,000.
Nagin, who was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006, made few comments during the campaign. Little known outside New Orleans before Katrina, he became a central figure in the city’s struggle to recover. Polls, however, showed his popularity fell as rebuilding dragged on.
AP
