Louisiana Lieut. Gov. Mitch Landrieu will be sworn in as mayor of New Orleans on May 6.
Landrieu was elected last Saturday with 66% of 89,000 votes cast. Turnout was considered low, down from 108,000 at the last municipal election in 2006.
Only one other mayoral election has resulted in a clear winner with no runoff needed since the state’s open primary system was introduced in 1975.
Landrieu was one of 11 candidates for the job being vacated by current Mayor Ray Nagin, who served the limit of two four-year terms.
The son of former Mayor Moon Landrieu and the brother of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, Mitch Landrieu entered the race in December, later than his opponents. He declined to campaign on specifics, instead assuring voters: “I know what to do, and I know how to do it.” He has supported the plans for a new bond-financed public hospital to replace storm-damaged Charity Hospital.
Landrieu ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1994 and again in 2006, when he lost to Nagin in a runoff. He is in his second term as lieutenant governor.
