NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana. October 22, 2025 — New Orleans city councilmember Helena Moreno was elected mayor earlier this month in the race to succeed LaToya Cantrell, who is ending a turbulent second term shadowed by federal corruption charges. Moreno, 48, secured an outright victory with 55% of the vote with all precincts reporting, according to results from the Louisiana Secretary of State. The Democrat avoided a runoff in a wide field by beating out Oliver Thomas, a fellow councilmember, and state Sen. Royce Duplessis. She will take office in January.
Cantrell, who could not run again because of term limits, was the first woman mayor in the city’s 300-year history and later won reelection. But a rocky second term included clashes with City Council members and surviving a recall effort in 2022. In August, Cantrell was indicted over what federal prosecutors say was a yearslong scheme to hide a romantic relationship with her former bodyguard. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction.
Moreno’s campaign raised more than $3.4 million, more than any other candidate, and focused her platform on promoting public safety, economic development and improved city services. Born in Mexico, Moreno moved to the U.S. when she was 8 years old. She arrived in New Orleans as a television reporter in the early 2000s before switching to politics, becoming a Louisiana state representative in 2010 and winning election as a New Orleans city councilmember at-large in 2017.
The city elected a new mayor as President Donald Trump has suggested that New Orleans could be one of his next targets to send the National Guard to fight crime. Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has also asked for a deployment but the Trump administration has yet to make an announcement on the request. Moreno has said she opposes federal troops in New Orleans.
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Helena Moreno led a successful electoral campaign in which national leaders of the Democratic Party showed their support for her. Former Vice President Kamala Harris stated in a television interview that Zohran Mamdani “was not the only star” running to lead major cities in the country, and she mentioned Moreno in New Orleans and Barbara Drummond in Mobile (Alabama).
Entertainment figures such as singer Lenny Kravitz and actress Patricia Clarkson also urged people to vote for Moreno. However, the mayor-elect is considered an outsider by the local political class, accustomed to sharing power among families. Of the last four mayors, two are children of former mayors.
Born in Xalapa (Mexico), Moreno does not belong to Louisiana’s power circles, but she was raised and educated in the United States. At the age of eight, she moved with her family to Texas, and later earned a journalism degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Her career advanced in regional television, and a job offer brought her to New Orleans to work as an investigative reporter for the city’s NBC affiliate. For her coverage of Hurricane Katrina, she won an Emmy Award; but in 2008, she left journalism to dedicate herself to her true calling: politics. Two years later, she was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 93, and in 2017 she won a seat on the City Council.
For fifteen years, she has been preparing for the opportunity she now holds in her hands. But it will not be easy. The Veracruz native will take office as mayor of New Orleans facing the challenge of confronting the state’s Republican governor, Jeff Landry, who in September requested the deployment of the National Guard in New Orleans, citing the “proven success” of the troops’ arrival in Washington and Memphis, while dismissing the criticism and complaints of residents and local authorities.
“The federal partnerships in our most troubled cities have worked, and now, with the support of President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [of Defense, Pete] Hegseth, we are taking the next step by bringing in the National Guard,” Landry said. Moreno opposes Washington’s plans to control Democratic-led cities with troops, so the political clash in Louisiana is about to begin.
With information from The Associated Press and El País
