1969–70 New Orleans mayoral election

New Orleans mayoral election, 1969–1970
← 1965 1973 →
Mayor before election; Victor H. Schiro; Democratic	Elected mayor ; Moon Landrieu; Democratic

The New Orleans mayoral election of 1969-1970 resulted in the election of Moon Landrieu as mayor of New Orleans. This election also saw an unexpectedly strong showing for a Republican candidate; the party had previously had negligible support in the city.

Incumbent mayor Victor H. Schiro was term-limited after winning elections in 1961 and 1965.

Candidates

Major candidates in the Democratic primary included:

former State Representative and City Councilman-at-Large Moon Landrieu,
Jimmy Fitzmorris, former City Councillor from 1954 to 1966
future Louisiana Attorney General and current State Senator William J. Guste
City Councillor-at-Large John J. Petre had previously been a state legislator.
Judge David Gertler was well financed and had strong support from the city's Jewish community
Orleans Parish School Board President Lloyd J. Rittiner

Results

First Democratic Party Primary, November 8, 1969

Candidate	Votes received	Percent
Jimmy Fitzmorris	59,301	34.53%
Moon Landrieu	33,093	19.27%
William J. Guste	29,487	17.17%
John J. Petre	22,471	13.08%
David Gertler	20,572	11.98%
Lloyd J. Rittiner	2,678	1.56%
John J. Spann, Jr.	1,707	0.99%
Addison Roswell Thompson	1,248	0.73%
Dan G. Dial	470	0.27%
Rodney Fertel (former husband of restaurateur Ruth Fertel)	310	0.18%
Maurice Charles Sciortino	201	0.12%
Cecilia M. Pizzo	198	0.12%

Second Democratic Party Primary, December 13, 1969

Candidate	Votes received	Percent
Moon Landrieu	89,554	53.86%
Jimmy Fitzmorris	76,726	46.14%

General Election, 1970

Candidate	Party	Votes received	Percent
Moon Landrieu	Democrat	94,332	59.0%
Ben C. Toledano	Republican	65,558	41.0%

Sources

Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee. First and Second Democratic Primary Elections, 1969.
Fitzmorris, James E. Frankly, Fitz! Pelican, 1992.