Helena Moreno, mayor-elect for the city of New Orleans, will be the first hispanic mayor of the city. 

Moreno secured the victory with 55% of the vote. Elections in New Orleans require a candidate to win more than half of the vote, meaning that a run-off election would take place if this failed to be the case. 

Born in Mexico, Moreno moved to the U.S. when she was 8 years old, and arrived in New Orleans in the early 2000s as a television reporter. She became a Louisiana state representative in 2010 and won an election as a New Orleans city councilmember at-large in 2017. 

Moreno’s campaign raised more than $3.4 million, the most out of any of the candidates, and focused her platform on promoting public safety, economic development and improved city services.

Sophomore and political science major Olivia Cranford talked about the importance of public safety in the city. 

“Of course, we want to keep the crime rates down and make sure that everybody is safe, but at the same time, we want to prevent and stop mass incarceration going on here in Louisiana and New Orleans,” Cranford said. 

International business major Belén Puche also believes that public safety is a major issue. 

“As a young woman in my 20s, I would say security, especially during the night, and especially in Bourbon and downtown,” said Puche. “As a woman it’s a big problem.”

The election came after President Donald Trump floated the idea of deploying the National Guard to New Orleans and after Louisiana Governor Landry requested troops from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. 

The mayor-elect, then a mayoral candidate, responded to the president’s statement. 

“There are many cities with mayors aligned with this President whose crime issues are severe, but they’re not targeted. That clearly shows that this is about scare tactics and politicizing public safety,” Moreno said. “We cannot allow this and I will fight to prevent any federal takeover of New Orleans.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.