Helena Moreno will be New Orleans’ next mayor after winning 55% of the vote. A former journalist who entered politics after covering Hurricane Katrina, she first ran for Congress in 2008 before winning a Louisiana House seat in 2010 and later the Division 1 At-Large seat on the City Council, where she served as president from 2019 to 2023. In her victory speech, Moreno said the city is “a step closer to moving New Orleans in a new direction… where opportunities aren’t just for some but for everyone,” adding, “we’re just getting started. Now the real work begins.”
New research from the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center ranks the New Orleans–Metairie metro 14th among the nation’s top 20 entrepreneurial growth regions, placing it alongside established innovation hubs like Austin, San Francisco, Seattle, and Charlotte. The study finds that high-performing metros typically share deep university networks, supportive state and local policies, and amenities that attract diverse talent; on average, they host more than 15 universities, while Greater New Orleans counts 13 anchored by institutions like Tulane and UNO and bolstered by expanding health, digital, and creative industries.
