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Robert Murrell

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Robert Murrell
Image of Robert Murrell

Unaffiliated

Elections and appointments
Last election

October 11, 2025

Education

High school

Riverdale High School

Personal
Birthplace
New Orleans, La.
Profession
Project manager
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

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Personal Facebook

Robert Murrell (unaffiliated) (also known as Bob) ran for election to the New Orleans City Council to represent District A in Louisiana. He lost in the primary on October 11, 2025.

Murrell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Robert Murrell was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned a high school diploma from Riverdale High School. He pursued his undergraduate education at Tulane University and the University of Missouri, Columbia. Murell's career experience includes working as a project manager, senior software engineer, materials manager, business analyst, ATM repairman, pizza deliveryman, bookshop clerk, and a phlebotomy lab processor. He has been associated with the Democratic Socialists of America, Step Up Louisiana, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Eye on Surveillance Coalition, St. Luke's United Methodist Church, and Voices of the Experienced Leadership Institute.[1][2]

Elections

2025

See also: City elections in New Orleans, Louisiana (2025)


Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

General election

General election for New Orleans City Council District A

Holly Friedman and Aimee McCarron are running in the general election for New Orleans City Council District A on November 15, 2025.

Candidate
Image of Holly Friedman
Holly Friedman (D)
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
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Aimee McCarron (D)

There are no incumbents in this race.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for New Orleans City Council District A

Holly Friedman and Aimee McCarron defeated Robert Murrell, Bridget Neal, and Alex Mossing in the primary for New Orleans City Council District A on October 11, 2025.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Holly Friedman
Holly Friedman (D)
 
38.7
 
8,589
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Aimee McCarron (D)
 
32.3
 
7,170
Image of Robert Murrell
Robert Murrell (Unaffiliated) Candidate Connection
 
13.5
 
3,002
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Bridget Neal (R)
 
9.2
 
2,048
Image of Alex Mossing
Alex Mossing (D) Candidate Connection
 
6.2
 
1,369

There were no incumbents in this race. Source

Total votes: 22,178
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Murrell's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2021

See also: City elections in New Orleans, Louisiana (2021)


Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for New Orleans City Council District A

Incumbent Joe Giarrusso III won election outright against Robert Murrell and Amy Misko in the primary for New Orleans City Council District A on November 13, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Joe Giarrusso III
Joe Giarrusso III (D)
 
76.4
 
12,848
Image of Robert Murrell
Robert Murrell (D) Candidate Connection
 
16.5
 
2,770
Image of Amy Misko
Amy Misko (L)
 
7.1
 
1,201

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 16,819
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Murrell's endorsements in the 2021 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Robert Murrell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Murrell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I’m Bob Murrell and I’m running for City Council to put people first. I was born at Charity Hospital, I was public schooled, and after college I’ve had over a decade of leadership experience at my work as a senior engineer and project manager, serving for the last three years as Missions co-chair at my church, and serving for the last two years on the Local Council of the New Orleans chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. I’m also a dues paying member of Step Up Louisiana and the NAACP. I fight for housing justice, workers rights, racial justice, a fair budget, and ecological justice.

As a grassroots organizer and community leader, I’ve developed an in-depth platform not from special interest groups or PACs or well connected residents, but from labor organizers, teachers, housing advocates, and parents struggling to keep the lights on. This platform includes investing in our youth, safe and livable neighborhoods, improved quality of life, dignity for all people, expanding democracy and fighting corruption, and stopping expensive utilities. I’m your choice for District A if you want cheaper Entergy bills, more splash pads and less surveillance cameras.

My daughter and I were at an ICE protest and she made a sign that said “New Orleans is for everybody”. That's why I'm running
  • We must invest in our youth thru immediate material assistance like free diapers and formula, enhancing UBI, more recreation like splash pads, and free public transit. We need spaces for our teens and young adults for after-hours recreation and job opportunities for aspiring musicians and others to develop the cultural economy and to pay them for work. We need to expand pre-K to be universal, with funding to help expand the workforce needed. We need to dedicate general funds towards capital improvements at libraries and public schools that are expensive to upgrade and maintain. We must eliminate childhood hunger with expanded food services and financial assistance, find housing for any child and their family who are unhoused or at risk.
  • We must fight for democracy and fight corruption. This includes dignity for all people. I will act against reactionary legislation and judicial rulings that are harmful to our community, and work to make New Orleans a sanctuary city for immigrants, abortion access, and LGBTQ+ healthcare in word and deed. I will rollback criminalization targeting the unhoused and will amend the home rule charter for City to divest from banks and companies that participate in apartheid and war crimes and ban the purchase of bonds in foreign states committing human rights violations. I will create a participatory budget & expand oversight & transparency on agencies like HANO, S&WB, Civil Service Commission, City Planning Commission, and more.
  • We need livable and safe neighborhoods, with a focus on quality of life beyond potholes. I will expand renter protections, rental assistance, and affordable housing mortgage assistance, create a Community Police Accountability Council with oversight power, and create free community health clinics in areas with disproportionately low life expectancies, with a focus on preventative care. I will regulate contracted road work & invest in municipal road work capabilities to stop never-ending construction, and will work towards centralized planning of all road work, utility work, and other digs with transparent dashboards, community oversight, and reports available to the public. I will create a rental registry & ban STRs.
I am a grassroots organizer and community advocate, and prioritize housing justice, workers rights, racial and economic justice, a fair budget, and ecological justice. The budget is the most powerful tool of City Council, and budgets are moral documents. I believe our tax dollars are not spent aligned with what's been democratically decided upon (or even proposed). Zoning is a secret tool that City Council has that literally shapes our city, often to the benefit of wealthy developers and land owners. And City Council has failed to regulate Entergy, something I am enthusiastic to do.
The Home Rule Charter and state exemption laws limits what City Council can do, but New Orleans is one of two cities in the entire country with regulatory oversight on their power utility (the other being DC, because they don't have a state public services board or commission). As such, City Council does not leverage this authority, instead rubber-stamping every rate increase Entergy asks for while it has the highest rate of residential shutoffs and several billions of dollars of stock payouts.
I look up to elders in the Black Liberation movement across the South that fought Jim Crow up close.

Dorothy Mae Taylor was a revolutionary member of City Council, championing working-class efforts while rooting out systemic racism in the local carnival krewes and discriminatory practices in city government.
Integrity, transparency, and accountability. You can have a super-responsive representative that tells you everything you want to hear, but if you don't know who bankrolls their campaigns or what financial ties are there between them or their family and potential city contractors, then who can you believe or trust?

We allegedly live in a democracy, yet time and again people in District A are intentionally left out of major decisions on their block and in their neighborhood. Loopholes designed to benefit landowners and developers that circumvent the NPP means City Council can act undemocratically against the only democratic mechanism community members have around the spaces they live in.

I'm fully committed to being open and transparent, because you can't hold me accountable if you don't know what's going on. I commit to serving with integrity.
The formal responsibilities include land use, the budget, utility regulation, passing legislation including political resolutions, and advocating for residents and owners in their district. I believe, however, that district councilmembers make up the majority bloc on council and have a greater impact outside of their district than they let onto. As such, we see issues for small affluent neighborhoods like Lakeview and Audubon receive preference over the needs of less affluent with higher Black residency rates like Hollygrove or the 7th Ward, not to mention the neighborhoods across the city.

I believe City Councilmembers also have a duty as popular educators, to inform residents as much as possible on everything they know about what's going on in City Hall, upcoming legislation, zoning applications, and more. I want constituents to be equal stakeholders with City Council, because I serve them and not the other way around.
Eliminating childhood hunger in New Orleans.
The governor's election in 1991 when David Duke was a leading candidate. My mom pulled me out of school one day to help color in some hand-made bumper stickers that said "David Duke Makes Me Puke"
My first job was at 14 years old for a jobs program, I worked as a janitor at a school during the summer.
A People's Guide to Capitalism by Hadas Thier was the most clarifying text I've read about capitalism and did an outstanding job of making the arguments in Capital more coherent to a modern audience.
My family was on food-stamps while I was in high school, and I wanted to be the first one in my family to go to a 4yr university. Even with the various financial aid, Pell Grants, TOPS, and academic scholarships, I still did not have enough to cover the costs of Tulane's tuition without signing up for student loans. I still struggle paying off my debt, having spent more on interest than the principle since MOHELA officially took on my loan as the processor for the Dept. of Education. Like millions around the country, this debt could be spent elsewhere, but instead adds to growing debt that I may never see the end of.
Along with regulating Entergy, City Council has a budget as part of the Cox/Harrahs Fund that allows them to distribute it to nonprofits and churches and schools. This leads to a fiefdom that has the potential for corruption. I want to democratize that fund, and will use my District A allotment to pilot a participatory budget in my first year.

Also, City Council set a legal limit on the number of those incarcerated in the jail. The OJC has been over that limit for 21 months, so there are exceptions to the ability of City Council to enact what they pass that needs to be further explored.
No. The current office holders represent the ruling class of this city, and act as their proxies. As a result, it doesn't matter what their professional experience is, what matters is the material connection (both in dollars and social influence) that hold the most sway in persuading voters. Our mayor had previous government experience and was just indicted for corruption. Potentially our next mayor has previous government experience prior to his incarceration on bribery.
Soft skills like meeting facilitation, a handle on Robert's Rules of Order, and conflict resolution are great to have. Additionally, a versatile set of leadership skills and styles are necessary due to the nature of City Council's roles. We can't have leaders that are stuck in one mode (such as servant leadership that is reactionary, or delegated leadership that acts passively) but must be adaptable and agile to the various challenges our city faces. Finally, they must be effective and proactive communicators, not assuming that every affected resident is aware of some discrete meeting happening while they're at work. I've seen Cm Giarrusso use this approach with neighbors who were left out of deliberative processes around the Blue Oak BBQ conditional use, and his dismissive attitude on their feedback as being "too late" is unacceptable.
New Orleans City Council is only one of two municipal bodies in the country that have regulatory authority over their power utility, and yet they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultants, only to rubber-stamp every rate increase Entergy asks for. As such, the spike in utility rates since the pandemic has put thousands of people in debt arrears they may never get out of, causing a threat of shutoffs anytime they're behind. City Council can wipe out that debt, ban residential shutoffs, and stop rate increases - all three things I pledge to do when elected.
New Orleans DSA, Step Up for Action, Run For Something, 3.14 Action Fund, American Youth 4 Climate Action & Sustainability, Moms Demand Action Gunsense Candidate
I heard a 14 year old student talk about their dream to be the next Trombone Shorty. He wants to have paying gigs to help with money for his mom, but he can't get into bars in order to play gigs, so they're stuck playing in the school band or with friends after school. He also talked about busking in the French Quarter and how unsafe he felt trying to get to the bus line when it gets late. It really helped center my platform on investing in our youth, to have a personal connection on the struggles of young people who are going at life the way they're told they should, and still come up short. It shouldn't be that way.
I'm really proud of the New Orleans Community Organizing Fair I helped spearhead last fall. National DSA asked local chapters to run an organizing fair after the presidential election as a way to turn people's anxiety into action and to help them organize not just in the chapter, but other advocacy in your city. We were able to host over 50 local organizations and had over 700 attendees, which was the largest in the country- bigger than NYC or Chicago or LA that have thousands of DSA members compared to our 350+ at the time.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2021

Candidate Connection

Robert Murrell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Murrell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Bob Murrell is a software developer, husband, dad, and comedian. Bob has been a member of the working class his entire life and understands the struggles of everyday people throughout New Orleans. Bob wants to fight for a habitable and prosperous city for all people.
  • I believe we need to put people before profits by making housing a human right and protecting workers’ rights
  • I believe in direct democracy, and will implement a participatory budget and expand the neighborhood participation plan - the people should be treated as primary stakeholders.
  • I believe that climate change will make our city uninhabitable unless we make drastic changes to our budget and priorities - we need a sustainable economy that works for everyone.
Green New Deal, Medicare for All, dismantling white supremacy, cyclist safety, public libraries
I am a member of the working class. I'm not a landlord or lawyer, I don't own property, nor have I ever made over 6 figures. Like half of District A prior to the pandemic, I’ve paid over 30% of my income on housing & utilities. My material conditions are closer to the median resident of District A than any other candidate.

I'm uniquely suited for this office with my experiences as a performer, comedy producer, and software tech lead. My leadership skills are rooted in practical problem solving and mediating between stakeholders and users. I've led teams in New Orleans and remotely around the world, and have worked within a variety of industries. I'm an active listener, and I'm not afraid to have uncomfortable or tough conversations that lead to amicable results.

I have over a decade of experience working in a variety of professional and amateur capacities as a scrum master, business analyst, project manager, and managing director. I've done everything from graphics to managing budgets. I'm a fast learner who does not need to be pigeonholed into one role. My creativity for solutions is a testament to my willpower for spreading joy and making New Orleans a better place.
City Council's core responsibilities are passing the city budget, regulating Entergy and other utilities, zoning, and legislation (resolutions & ordinances).
I was a janitor at a nearby school during a summer jobs program. I was there for 2 weeks when I was transferred to doing clerical work for the parish.
"Dance Magic Dance" from Labrynth. I watched it recently with my 2 year old daughter while we've been evacuated from Hurricane Ida.
New Orleans City Council is one of two municipal bodies that can regulate and set rates for electrical utilities. After Hurricane Ida, it's imperative that City Council properly regulate Entergy so that it does not continue to rake in profits while our power grid infrastructure collapses in tropical weather events.
Corrupt politicians have plenty of years of experience in government and politics and it does little to help the working class of New Orleans.
I believe having experience working with numerous stakeholders across sectors, as well as proactive communication with residents, students, and workers, is vital to a healthy democracy.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 2, 2021
    2. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 11, 2025
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