A new poll conducted by pollster Ron Faucheux finds that New Orleans City Councilmember Helena Moreno is holding on to her lead in the mayor's race.
According to that poll, Moreno leads the field with 47 percent support. Councilman Oliver Thomas is in a distant second place with 16 percent, followed by state Senator Royce Duplessis with 14 percent and retired judge Arthur Hunter with five percent. Fifteen percent of the 600 respondents said they were undecided, while three percent selected one of the other 14 candidates who qualified for the race.
Moreno's lead comes despite Duplessis's late entrance into the field of candidates. Now, one analyst suggests that this could be Moreno's race to lose.
"I'm not really surprised by the results," UNO political science professor Ed Chervenak said. "Most people thought that once state Senator Royce Duplessis got into the race that it would probably take some of the support away from Oliver Thomas and Arthur Hunter."
In fact, Chervenak says Moreno is in a good position to win the election outright in October.
"She's at or near the position to be to win in the primary, but it's still early," Chervenak said. "Polls still are just a snapshot in time. They only tell us what's going on right now. We still have to get through the campaign. Maybe one of the candidates catches fire. We just have to wait and see."
According to Chervenak, Moreno's opponents will need the front runner to slip up to have a chance at forcing a runoff and to beat her.
"They are going to need some lighting in a bottle or some sort of scandal that brings Moreno's numbers down," Chervenak said. "Right now, she's in a commanding position."
Election day is October 11.