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Source: Reuters
Mitch Landrieu was elected mayor of New Orleans, the first time
in over 30 years that voters of this majority-black city have
chosen a white candidate.
Landrieu, a Democrat and Louisiana's lieutenant governor, won more
than 50% of the vote, defeating a field of 10 other competitors and
avoiding a run-off election.
Democrat Troy Henry, a black businessman, came in second.
Landrieu, 49, the son of New Orleans' last white mayor, Moon
Landrieu, rode a wave of discontent over the slow pace of the
city's recovery from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and rampant
crime.
In his victory speech, Landrieu said his election showed that
voters wanted a city that was unified rather than divided.
About two-thirds of New Orleans' population is black and Landrieu
was helped by his father's legacy of desegregating the city.
Moon Landrieu left office in 1978.
The Landrieu family is a political force in Louisiana. Mitch
Landrieu's sister Mary is a US senator.
The mayoral election was overshadowed by Sunday's Super Bowl in
Miami, where the New Orleans Saints make their first championship
game appearance against the Indianapolis Colts.
Ray Nagin, the current mayor who can't seek re-election due to term
limits, was the public face of the city's botched response to
Katrina, which flooded 80% of New Orleans and killed 1,500
people.
Some of its neighbourhoods are still unfit for habitation due to
flood damage, and its system of levees and flood walls - protecting
a city with large areas situated below sea level - is vulnerable to
a repeat of Katrina's catastrophic flooding.
Albert Arnold, 66, who lost his home in eastern New Orleans to
Katrina, said Nagin's performance on Katrina recovery and crime has
been disappointing.
"Crime is the biggest problem in the city, and it's gotten a lot
worse in the last four years," Arnold said.
However, this year's election is less about race and more about
buyer's remorse from voters' disappointment with Nagin, said Bernie
Pinsonat, pollster and political strategist at Southern Media and
Opinion Research.
"You have a very unpopular mayor who's a big disappointment to
voters," Pinsonat said.
"In Landrieu you have somebody the city looks to as a unifier and someone who can maybe get something done."
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