FOX 8 Political Analyst Mike Sherman has projected Helena Moreno as the next mayor of New Orleans.
Moreno, currently the city council’s vice president, avoided a runoff with one of her top competitors when she exceeded 50 percent support from voters in the municipal primary.
Results showed Moreno getting 54 percent of the vote, easily outdistancing her top rivals, fellow Democrats Louisiana state Sen. Royce Duplessis (24 percent) and City Councilman Oliver Thomas (19 percent). Republican Frank Janusa was fourth with 2 percent.
Moreno, 48, is set to be sworn in as the city’s second woman mayor in January.
She replaces the term-limited LaToya Cantrell, who will leave office under the cloud of a federal indictment charging her with wire fraud, conspiracy and lying to a federal grand jury.