1977 New Orleans mayoral election

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1977 New Orleans Mayoral Election
Flag of New Orleans, Louisiana.svg
  1973 October 1, 1977 (first round)
November 12, 1977 (runoff)
1982  
  Dutch Morial Crop 1985.jpg 3x4.svg
Candidate Ernest Morial Joe DiRosa
Party Democratic
First round41,182
26.63%
36,862
23.84%
Runoff90,539
51.78%
84,325
48.22%

 
Candidate Nat Kiefer Toni Morrison
Party Democratic
First round36,597
23.67%
32,176
20.81%
RunoffEliminatedEliminated

Mayor before election

Moon Landrieu
Democratic

Elected mayor

Ernest Morial
Democratic

The New Orleans mayoral election of 1977 resulted in the election of Ernest Morial as the first African-American mayor of New Orleans.

Contents

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 of voting was held on October 1, 1977, and the runoff was held on November 12.

The 1977 municipal elections were the first under Louisiana's open primary law signed by Governor Edwin Edwards two years earlier.

Under the New Orleans City Charter adopted by voters in 1954, Incumbent mayor Moon Landrieu was term-limited.

Results

Primary, October 1
A total of 154,643 votes were cast

CandidateVotes received%
Ernest Morial 41,18226.63%
Joe DiRosa 36,86223.84%
Nat Kiefer 36,59723.67%
DeLesseps "Toni" Morrison, Jr. 32,17620.81%
Thomas Lewis Giraud 5,2153.37%
Herbert W. Christenberry, Jr. 1,3810.89%
Joel Aber 3770.24%
Rodney Fertel 2930.19%
Cecil M. Shilstone 1910.12%
Thomas Joseph Garnier 1880.12%
George A. Aiavolasiti 1810.12%

Runoff, November 12

CandidateVotes received%
Ernest Morial90,53951.78%
Joe DiRosa84,32548.22%
Preceded by
1973 mayoral election
New Orleans mayoral elections Succeeded by
1982 mayoral election

Sources