The filing deadline to run for office in New Orleans passed on July 16. The city is holding general elections for mayor, sheriff, assessor, coroner, civil district court clerk, criminal district court clerk, and seven city council seats on Nov. 13. A primary is scheduled for Oct. 9.
A total of 71 candidates filed to run for these 13 seats. The races for civil district court clerk and coroner were both canceled when the incumbents were the only candidates to file. Both were automatically re-elected to their positions.
The mayoral race attracted 14 candidates, including incumbent Mayor LaToya Cantrell (D). She was first elected to the position in the general election on Nov. 18, 2017. In her bid for re-election, Cantrell is running against four Democrats, one Republican, four independents, and four candidates who indicated they had no party preference in the primary election.
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% 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.
Democratic mayors oversaw 64 of the 100 largest cities at the beginning of 2021. New Orleans is the largest city in Louisiana and the 51st-largest city in the U.S. by population.
Additional reading:
City elections in New Orleans, Louisiana (2021)
Partisanship in United States municipal elections (2021)