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Mayoral election in New Orleans, Louisiana (2017)
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← 2014
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| 2017 New Orleans elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: July 14, 2017 |
| Primary election: October 14, 2017 General election: November 18, 2017 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: Mayor and city council |
| Total seats up: 8 (Click here for other city elections) |
| Election type: Partisan |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2017 |
New Orleans' 2017 election was the first election under a new calendar approved by the Louisiana State Legislature in 2013. Prior to 2017, the municipal primary in New Orleans took place in February with a March general election for races where no candidates received 50 percent or more of the primary vote. The calendar was changed because the elections coincided with Mardi Gras celebrations. The terms of outgoing Mayor Landrieu and council members in office entering the 2017 election ended on June 1, 2018, with inaugurations set to move to January following the 2021 election.[2][3]
The 18-candidate field was the largest primary field for mayor since the 22-candidate primary field in 2006. The filing deadline for this election was July 14, 2017.[4][5]
Click here to read about the city's council races in 2017. To read about Orleans Parish's elections, click here.
Elections
General election
Incumbent Mitch Landrieu (D) was unable to run for re-election due to term limits.
Primary election
This symbol (
) next to a candidate's name indicates his or her participation in Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey. Click the image next to a candidate's name to jump to their page detailing their responses.
- ☐
Thomas Albert - ☐ Charles Anderson
- ☐ Michael Bagneris
- ☑ LaToya Cantrell
- ☑ Desiree Charbonnet
- ☐ Edward Collins Sr.
- ☐ Brandon Dorrington
- ☐ Troy Henry
- ☐ Frank Scurlock
- ☐ Johnese Smith
- ☐ Tommie Vassel
- ☐
Edward Bruski - ☐ Hashim Walters
- ☐ Patrick Van Hoorebeek
- ☐ Manny Chevrolet Bruno
- ☐ Byron Cole
- ☐ Matthew Hill
- ☐ Derrick O'Brien Martin
Campaign finance
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Polling
General election
Primary election
Endorsements
The following table displays group endorsements issued in New Orleans' 2017 primary election. Endorsing organizations may offer endorsements to more than one candidate in anticipation of a top-two general election or if they believe more than one candidate meets their criteria for official support.
| Candidate endorsements | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endorser | Mayor | At-large 1 | At-large 2 | A | B | C | D | E |
| Alliance for Good Government[6] | Michael Bagneris | Helena Moreno | Jason Williams (i) | Joe Giarrusso III | Seth Bloom | Kristin Palmer | N/A | N/A |
| Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO[7] | Desiree Charbonnet | Joseph Bouie Helena Moreno |
Jason Williams (i) | Joe Giarrusso III | Jay Banks Timothy David Ray |
Nadine Ramsey (i) | Jared Brossett (i) | James Gray (i) |
| Independent Women's Organization[8] | LaToya Cantrell | Helena Moreno | Jason Williams (i) | Aylin Acikalin Maklansky Joe Giarrusso III |
Seth Bloom Timothy David Ray |
Nadine Ramsey (i) Kristin Palmer |
Jared Brossett (i) | James Gray (i) |
| New Orleans Coalition[9] | Michael Bagneris LaToya Cantrell |
Helena Moreno | Jason Williams (i) | Joe Giarrusso III | Timothy David Ray | Kristin Palmer | Jared Brossett (i) | James Gray (i) |
Campaign ads
Candidates for mayor of New Orleans ran the following ads as of September 7, 2017:[10]
Michael Bagneris
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Desiree Charbonnet
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LaToya Cantrell
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Frank Scurlock
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Louisiana elections, 2017
New Orleans residents voted on candidates for seven seats on the city council. The 2017 primary ballot included parish races for sheriff, civil court clerk, criminal court clerk, assessor, and coroner.
Key dates
Primary election
| New Orleans voter? What you needed to know for Saturday, October 14: | |
|---|---|
| When was the last day to register to vote in the primary? | Saturday, September 23 via the GeauxVote registration system |
| When was the early voting period? | Early voting started on September 30, 2017, and concluded on October 7, 2017.[4] |
| Was this an open or closed primary? | Louisiana utilizes an open primary system for local and state elections, allowing voters of any party to select candidates from any party. The state uses a closed primary system for federal elections.[11] |
| Where were the polling locations? | Click here for New Orleans polling locations. |
Past elections
2014
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Mitch Landrieu Incumbent |
63.6% | 53,441 | |
| Democratic | Danatus N. King | 3.1% | 2,638 | |
| Democratic | Michael Bagneris | 33.3% | 27,991 | |
| Total Votes | 84,070 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Election Results," accessed October 14, 2017 | ||||
2010
| Mayor of New Orleans Primary, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Mitch Landrieu |
65.5% | 58,279 | |
| Democratic | Troy Henry | 13.8% | 12,278 | |
| Democratic | John Georges | 9.2% | 8,190 | |
| Republican | Robert Couhig | 5.5% | 4,874 | |
| Democratic | James Perry | 3% | 2,702 | |
| Democratic | Nadine Ramsey | 2.1% | 1,894 | |
| Republican | Thomas Lambert | 0.3% | 239 | |
| No party | Jonah Bascle | 0.2% | 160 | |
| Independent | Manny Chevrolet Bruno | 0.2% | 139 | |
| No party | Jerry Jacobs | 0.1% | 106 | |
| No party | Norbert Rome | 0.1% | 84 | |
| Total Votes | 88,945 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Election Results," accessed October 14, 2017 | ||||
2006
| Mayor of New Orleans General Election, 2006 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Ray Nagin Incumbent |
52.3% | 59,460 | |
| Democratic | Mitch Landrieu | 47.7% | 54,131 | |
| Total Votes | 113,591 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Election Results," accessed October 14, 2017 | ||||
Issues
General election candidate forums
Cantrell and Charbonnet participated in two candidate forums on October 24, 2017. These forums were hosted by Tulane University and the Alliance for Good Government. The following table details the positions of Cantrell and Charbonnet in policy areas during the forums.[12]
| Mayoral policy stances | ||
|---|---|---|
| Policy | LaToya Cantrell (D) | Desiree Charbonnet (D) |
| City's inclusion in multi-parish lawsuit seeking damages from oil companies[13] | Supported review of lawsuit and continued relationship with oil companies | Questioned city's legal standing in case because other parishes are located adjacent to Gulf of Mexico |
| City's role in immigration enforcement[13] | Opposed to city role in enforcement | Opposed to city role in enforcement |
| City's use of license-plate reader technology[13] | Supported use of devices to find stolen cars or cars used in crimes | Questioned whether devices violate privacy rights, supported safeguards to protect people who purchase cars used in earlier crimes |
| City's use of traffic cameras[13] | Promised removal, citing revenue given to camera vendor | Promised gradual removal outside of school zones |
Mayoral primary candidates on policy issues
Forward New Orleans, a coalition of the city's civic organizations, compiled a list of the top priorities for the mayor elected in the 2017 election. The top three priorities identified by Forward New Orleans were public safety, infrastructure, and economic opportunity.[14] Ballotpedia identified LaToya Cantrell (D), Desiree Charbonnet (D), and Michael Bagneris (D) as the top three primary candidates based on polling, endorsements, and campaign finance reports. The following table details the positions of each candidate on the priority issues identified by Forward New Orleans.
| Mayoral policy stances | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Policy | LaToya Cantrell (D) | Desiree Charbonnet (D) | Michael Bagneris (D) |
| Public safety | Job creation as a crime deterrent, targeted intelligence gathering to focus on violent crimes, and improving communications between residents and police officers.[15] | Add 800-100 new police officers, nationwide search for police chief, and upgrading police technology.[16] | Give a $10,000 pay raise to every police officer, modernize police technology, and measure police progress on steady improvement in crime rate[17] |
| Infrastructure | Immediate investment in new drainage system, creation of an infrastructure fund, and data sharing across agencies to avoid redundancies[18] | Full review of all government offices including water board and consider FEMA settlement and savings from eliminated programs for street repairs.[17] | Financial and operational audit of public works division and devote traffic camera revenue to street repairs.[17] |
| Economic opportunity | A $15 per hour minimum wage, job training for low-income residents, and incentivizing small businesses through increased public capital[19] | Raise median income to national level, working with public schools to improve workforce training, and using Economic Development Information System to prioritize small business needs[20] | Foster growth for arts and tourism, modernize existing city facilities, and leverage universities to attract tech companies.[21] |
About the city
- See also: New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a city in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. As of 2010, its population was 343,829.
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of New Orleans uses a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body, while the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.
Demographics
The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.
| Demographic Data for New Orleans, Louisiana | ||
|---|---|---|
| New Orleans | Louisiana | |
| Population | 343,829 | 4,533,372 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 169 | 43,209 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White | 33.9% | 62% |
| Black/African American | 59.5% | 32.2% |
| Asian | 2.9% | 1.7% |
| Native American | 0.2% | 0.6% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% | 0% |
| Other (single race) | 1.5% | 1.4% |
| Multiple | 1.9% | 2% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 5.5% | 5.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate | 86.5% | 85.2% |
| College graduation rate | 37.6% | 24.1% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income | $41,604 | $49,469 |
| Persons below poverty level | 23.7% | 19.2% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2010). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2014-2019). | ||
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms New Orleans Louisiana election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| New Orleans, Louisiana | Louisiana | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "Michael Bagneris endorses LaToya Cantrell for New Orleans mayor," October 20, 2017
- ↑ League of Women Voters of New Orleans, "Major New Orleans Election Schedule Reform," accessed August 22, 2017
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "Mayor Landrieu's election date move irks New Orleans voter advocates," April 7, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Louisiana Secretary of State, "2017 Elections," February 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed July 14, 2017
- ↑ Twitter, "Alliance for Good Government," accessed September 18, 2017
- ↑ Facebook, "Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO," accessed August 13, 2017
- ↑ The New Orleans Advocate, "Several candidates disqualified in New Orleans, and other area political news," July 30, 2017
- ↑ New Orleans Coalition, "Endorsements," accessed August 22, 2017
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "How are New Orleans mayoral candidates using TV time?" September 7, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Review Types of Elections," accessed September 21, 2017
- ↑ Uptown Messenger, "Cantrell, Charbonnet meet in two Uptown forums in one day," October 25, 2017
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedforum - ↑ Forward New Orleans, "2018 FNO Platform," accessed October 3, 2017
- ↑ LaToya Cantrell 2017 campaign website, "Crime/Public Safety," accessed October 3, 2017
- ↑ Desiree Charbonnet 2017 campaign website, "Comprehensive Crime Plan," accessed October 3, 2017
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Bureau of Governmental Research, "Questions for a New Mayor," accessed October 3, 2017
- ↑ LaToya Cantrell 2017 campaign website, "LaToya's Plan for Improving Drainage and Infrastructure," accessed October 3, 2017
- ↑ LaToya Cantrell 2017 campaign website, "Economic/Commercial Development," accessed October 3, 2017
- ↑ Desiree Charbonnet 2017 campaign website, "Economic Development Plan," accessed October 3, 2017
- ↑ Michael Bagneris 2017 campaign website, "Issues," accessed October 3, 2017
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