The New Orleans mayoral election of 1994 resulted in the election of Marc Morial

Marc Morial

Marc Haydel Morial is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana from 1994 to 2002. He is married to Michelle Miller, who has won awards as a CBS News Correspondent.- Early life and educations...

 as Mayor of New Orleans.

Background

Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. presidential elections—follow a variation of the open primary system. Candidates of any and all parties are listed on one ballot; voters need not limit themselves to the candidates of one party. Unless one candidate takes more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a run-off election is then held between the top two candidates, who may in fact be members of the same party. In this election, the first round was held on February 5, 1994, and the runoff was held on March 5, 1994.

Candidates

• Marc Morial
  Marc Morial
  Marc Haydel Morial is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana from 1994 to 2002. He is married to Michelle Miller, who has won awards as a CBS News Correspondent.- Early life and educations...
  
  , a first-term state senator, and the son of New Orleans's first black mayor Ernest Morial
• Donald Mintz, a lawyer and civic activist who had previously run for mayor in 1990.
  New Orleans mayoral election, 1990
  The New Orleans mayoral election of 1990 resulted in the reelection of Sidney Barthelemy to a second term as mayor of New Orleans.- Background :...
  
  
• Mitch Landrieu
  Mitch Landrieu
  Mitchell Joseph "Mitch" Landrieu is the Mayor of New Orleans, former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, and a member of the Landrieu family. Landrieu is a member of the Democratic Party and a Roman Catholic. He is the son of former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of...
  
  , a State Representative since 1987 and the son of former New Orleans mayor Moon Landrieu
  Moon Landrieu
  Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu is a Democratic politician from Louisiana who served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1970–1978. He also is a former judge...
  
  
• State Representative and Speaker Pro Tempore Sherman Copelin
  Sherman Copelin
  Sherman Nathaniel Copelin, Jr. is a New Orleans based politician and businessman.Copelin, the son of a funeral director, was born in New Orleans. He graduated from St. Augustine High School and then became active in student politics at Dillard University, where he became student body president. He...
  
  , an influential leader of the Ninth Ward political organization SOUL
  Soul
  A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
  
  . Copelin personally funded an expensive campaign costing over $1 million.
• First District City Assessor Ken Carter
• Lambert Bossiere, Jr., city councillor for District D since 1981 and member of the Seventh Ward
  Seventh Ward, New Orleans
  The Seventh Ward is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: A.P. Tureaud Avenue, Agriculture, Allen, Industry, St. Anthony, Duels, Frenchmen and Hope Streets to the north, Elysian Fields...
  
   political organization COUP. Boissiere was supported by outgoing mayor Sidney Barthelemy
  Sidney Barthelemy
  Sidney John Barthelemy is a former American political figure. He served as Democratic mayor of New Orleans from 1986 to 1994...
  
  .
• lawyer Roy Raspanti
• Arthur P. Jacobs
  Arthur P. Jacobs
  Arthur Jacobs was a twentieth century film producer responsible for numerous classic films of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Planet of the Apes series, Doctor Dolittle, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Play It Again, Sam and Tom Sawyer...
  
  , manager of a construction business
• Julius "Chip" Leahman
• Jerome E. Slade

Campaign

Given that incumbent mayor Sidney Barthelemy was barred by the city charter from running for a third term, the 1994 mayoral race was seen as one of the most wide-open races in years, with a number of high-profile candidates running. Mintz began his campaign years before the election date, and remained a front-runner throughout the lengthy campaign. After months of speculation, Dutch Morial's widow Sybil Morial decided not to run; her son, Marc Morial then entered the race as the candidate of the Morial family's LIFE organization. After Mitch Landrieu entered the race, much of the election coverage focused on the battle between two sons of former mayors.

The most prominent political issue of the campaign was New Orleans's drastically worsening crime problem, but the two leading candidates - Morial and Mintz - had similar positions on most issues. Rather than a focus on issues, the bitterly contested campaign saw a number of personal attacks, including rumors of Marc Morial's drug use. The runoff campaign was dominated by allegations that a senior campaign worker for Mintz had distributed racist fliers which questioned the religion and sexual orientation of various candidates.

Results

Results of first round of voting, February 5

Candidate	Party affiliation	Votes received	Percentage of votes cast
Donald Mintz	Democrat	56,305	37%
Marc Morial Marc Morial Marc Haydel Morial is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana from 1994 to 2002. He is married to Michelle Miller, who has won awards as a CBS News Correspondent.- Early life and educations...	Democrat	49,604	32%
Mitch Landrieu Mitch Landrieu Mitchell Joseph "Mitch" Landrieu is the Mayor of New Orleans, former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, and a member of the Landrieu family. Landrieu is a member of the Democratic Party and a Roman Catholic. He is the son of former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of...	Democrat	14,689	10%
Sherman Copelin Sherman Copelin Sherman Nathaniel Copelin, Jr. is a New Orleans based politician and businessman.Copelin, the son of a funeral director, was born in New Orleans. He graduated from St. Augustine High School and then became active in student politics at Dillard University, where he became student body president. He...	Democrat	11,731	8%
Ken Carter	Democrat	10,818	7%
Lambert Boissiere, Jr.	Democrat	5,466	4%
Roy Raspanti	Other	3,740	2%
Arthur P. Jacobs Arthur P. Jacobs Arthur Jacobs was a twentieth century film producer responsible for numerous classic films of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Planet of the Apes series, Doctor Dolittle, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Play It Again, Sam and Tom Sawyer...	Democrat	131	0%
Julius "Chip" Leahman	Democrat	117	0%
Jerome E. Slade	Other	101	0%

Results of runoff, March 5

Candidate	Party affiliation	Votes received	Percentage of votes cast
Marc Morial Marc Morial Marc Haydel Morial is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana from 1994 to 2002. He is married to Michelle Miller, who has won awards as a CBS News Correspondent.- Early life and educations...	Democrat	93,094	54%
Donald Mintz	Democrat	77,730	46%

Sources

• Secretary of State Elections Division. Official Election Results Database
• The Times-Picayune. "Mintz - 37% vs. Morial - 32%; Candidates expecting tough race." February 6, 1994.
• The Times-Picayune. "It's Morial! Sweeping victory caps dirty campaign." March 6, 1994.