LaToya Cantrell becomes New Orleans' 1st woman mayor
LaToya Cantrell
NEW ORLEANS (AP) â LaToya Cantrell  a City Council member who first gained a political following as  she  worked to help  her  hard-hit neighborhood recover from Hurricane Katrina  won a historic election Saturday that made  her  the first woman mayor of New Orleans.
"Almost 300 years  my friends. And New Orleans  we're still making history "  Cantrell  told a cheering crowd in  her  victory speech.
The leader in most polls before the runoff election   she  never trailed as votes were counted.
 Her  opponent  former municipal Judge Desiree Charbonnet  conceded the race and congratulated  Cantrell  late Saturday. Later  complete returns showed  Cantrell  with 60 percent of the vote.
But  Cantrell  will face lingering problems. Crime is one. Another is dysfunction at the agency overseeing the city's drinking water system and storm drainage â a problem that became evident during serious flash flooding in August.
 Cantrell  faced questions about  her  use of a city credit card. Charbonnet had to fight back against critics who cast her as an insider who would steer city work to cronies.
Katrina was a theme in the backstory of both candidates.  Cantrell  moved to the city from California.  Her  work as a neighborhood activist in the aftermath of Katrina in the hard-hit Broadmoor neighborhood helped  her  win a seat on council in 2012.
Charbonnet  from a well-known political family in New Orleans  was the city's elected recorder of mortgages before  she  was a judge. In the campaign  she  made a point of saying  hers  was the first city office to re-open after Katrina  providing critical property records to the displaced.
 Cantrell  entered the race as the perceived front-runner  leading in fundraising and in various polls.  She  had an 11 percentage point lead in a poll released last week by the University of New Orleans. It showed 46 percent of 602 voters surveyed from Nov. 1-8 favored  Cantrell  over Charbonnet  who had 35 percent; 20 percent were undecided.
UNO political science professor Edward Chervenak said the endorsements appeared to help  Cantrell  overcome revelations that she had used her city-issued credit card for thousands of dollars in purchases without clear indications that they were for public purposes. The money was eventually reimbursed but questions lingered about whether she had improperly used city money for personal or campaign expenditures.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) â  [TGT]   a City Council member who first gained a political following as  she  worked to help  her  hard-hit neighborhood recover from Hurricane Katrina  won a historic election Saturday that made  her  the first woman mayor of New Orleans.
"Almost 300 years  my friends. And New Orleans  we're still making history "  Cantrell  told a cheering crowd in  her  victory speech.
The leader in most polls before the runoff election   she  never trailed as votes were counted.
 Her  opponent  former municipal Judge Desiree Charbonnet  conceded the race and congratulated  Cantrell  late Saturday. Later  complete returns showed  Cantrell  with 60 percent of the vote.
But  Cantrell  will face lingering problems. Crime is one. Another is dysfunction at the agency overseeing the city's drinking water system and storm drainage â a problem that became evident during serious flash flooding in August.
 Cantrell  faced questions about  her  use of a city credit card. Charbonnet had to fight back against critics who cast her as an insider who would steer city work to cronies.
Katrina was a theme in the backstory of both candidates.  Cantrell  moved to the city from California.  Her  work as a neighborhood activist in the aftermath of Katrina in the hard-hit Broadmoor neighborhood helped  her  win a seat on council in 2012.
Charbonnet  from a well-known political family in New Orleans  was the city's elected recorder of mortgages before  she  was a judge. In the campaign  she  made a point of saying  hers  was the first city office to re-open after Katrina  providing critical property records to the displaced.
 Cantrell  entered the race as the perceived front-runner  leading in fundraising and in various polls.  She  had an 11 percentage point lead in a poll released last week by the University of New Orleans. It showed 46 percent of 602 voters surveyed from Nov. 1-8 favored  Cantrell  over Charbonnet  who had 35 percent; 20 percent were undecided.
UNO political science professor Edward Chervenak said the endorsements appeared to help  Cantrell  overcome revelations that she had used her city-issued credit card for thousands of dollars in purchases without clear indications that they were for public purposes. The money was eventually reimbursed but questions lingered about whether she had improperly used city money for personal or campaign expenditures.