New Orleans voters get a chance to see candidates for mayor go head-to-head with each other tonight in a debate on WWL-TV, and you could see some fireworks.
New Orleans City Councilmember Helena Moreno has consistently held the lead, so candidates like Oliver Thomas and Royce Duplessis, running second or third, depending on the poll, need a strong showing to ensure there is a runoff.
"They will need to land some serious, and I mean this in the rhetorical sense, body blows," said political analyst Clancy DuBos. "They need to find something that will convince people who are voting for Moreno to peel off of her."
DuBos says the tricky part is to pick up that support.
"They don't switch from candidate A to candidate B. They typically go from supporting the candidate who's being criticized to undecided, and then they decide where to go from there. It's a two-step process," DuBos explained.
And with early voting starting in about a week and a half, it makes it messaging even more urgent.
"Time is of the essence, so that two-step process can take a week or more," said DuBos.
The latest poll by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy shows:
Helena Moreno: 51%
Oliver Thomas: 16%
Royce Duplessis: 11%
Undecided: 15%
The poll was conducted from September 8 to September 10, 2025, and included 625 registered New Orleans voters who said they were likely to vote.