A second poll shows that New Orleans City Council member Helena Moreno continues to lead all candidates running for mayor.
That poll, conducted by pollster Ron Faucheux, shows that nearly half of respondents said they'd vote for Moreno. Councilman Oliver Thomas took second place with 22 percent of respondents supporting him. Retired judge Arthur Hunter finished in third place with nine percent of respondents backing him. Another 22 percent said they were undecided.
Political analyst Clancy Dubos told WWL's Tommy Tucker that if the mayoral election were to happen today, Moreno would win even without undecided voters throwing their support to her.
"She actually has over 50 percent in the raw numbers, as we say, in several of the polls," Dubos said.
However, Dubos is quick to point out that these poll numbers don't mean that Moreno will win the race. Dubos compared the poll numbers to the opening lines at a race track: they can tell you who the favorite in the race is, but they can't predict the winner.
"Hunter and Thomas are both trying to say: how do we take some votes off of her (and) how do we get people who are undecided motivated," Dubos said. "How do we build to keep her from winning in the first (election). If they do that, it's a whole new ball game."
According to Dubos, familiarity with the candidates is playing a large roll in the polling.
"I think it's largely based on name recognition plus the fact that people know two of the candidates, Oliver Thomas and Helena Moreno," Dubos said. "They are both very well known among New Orleans voters. They're not likely to learn anything new unless we all learn something new. They don't really know Arthur Hunter that well, but those that do know him like him."
Qualifying begins on July 9 and continues through July 11. Primary election day is scheduled for October 4. The general election, if necessary, will take place on November 8.
