A new poll gives us an idea of who New Orleans voters favor in the upcoming mayor's race. Specifically, voters have strong opinions about one particular mayoral candidate and the incumbent sheriff.
JMC Analytics conducted the poll on May 27 and 28 among 500 voters in Orleans Parish. Pollster John Couvillon says city council vice president Helena Moreno not only has a three-to-one favorability rating for the job she's doing now, but she's also the leading candidate in the mayor's race, four months away from election day.
"Helena Moreno is in a very dominant position (because) she has over 50 percent of the vote, and Oliver Thomas is running second in the low 20s," Couvillon said to WWL's Tommy Tucker, noting that Moreno obtained 52 percent support in his poll. "Helena has built a big lead with a bipartisan and biracial coalition, even pulling 29 percent of the Black vote."
A third major candidate in the mayor's race, Arthur Hunter, pulled 11 percent support in the JMC poll.
Meanwhile, voters polled gave Sheriff Susan Hutson low marks.
"Sheriff Hutson, however, has a three-to-one disapprove-to-approve job approval rating, which, of course, you can appreciate with the election coming up in a couple of months, would be very concerning for her," Couvillon said.
According to Couvillon's poll, Hutson trails former NOPD Superintendent Michelle Woodfork 35 percent to 12 percent. However, he says Hutson's poll numbers could rise because two out of every five respondents hadn't made up their minds.
"The sheriff's race, given present poll numbers, is going to be more suspenseful than the mayor's race," Couvillon said. "Forty-two percent were undecided in the poll that I had done whereas the mayor's race is down to 15 percent undecided."
To see the full poll results, click here.