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 Landrieu had 64 percent of the vote, with all precincts reporting,
according to preliminary results from the website of the Louisiana
secretary of state.
Landrieu needed more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff
election and win another four-year term. His nearest challenger,
state court Judge Michael Bagneris, had 33 percent of the vote.
Race played a role in the election in the mostly black city, with
Landrieu who is white, saying his policies have benefited all, while
his opponents said the needs of impoverished blacks have been mostly
ignored.
In the end, Landrieu, 53, a scion of one of the state's pre-eminent
Democratic political families, appeared to have benefited from the
strong base of support for his efforts to rebuild the Crescent City
from the destruction inflicted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Landrieu addressed his jubilant supporters at his election night
headquarters on Saturday.
"We have come a very, very long way together," Landrieu told the
crowd.
The mayor was surrounded by his family, which included his sister,
U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, and his father, former New
Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu.
"Elections are America's peaceful pathway to the future. They give
full voice to the will of the people, and now the people of New
Orleans have spoken again," Landrieu said.
Landrieu, heading into the election on Saturday, had been the
frontrunner to win.
But his two African-American challengers accused the mayor of
failing impoverished communities still affected by the aftermath of
Katrina.
The final candidate on the mayoral ballot was veteran civil rights
lawyer Danatus King, who also is black. He had run a distant third
in political polls and finished with 3 percent of the vote in
preliminary results.
CRIME PROBLEM
His main opponent, Bagneris, had been executive counsel to former
Mayor Ernest "Dutch" Morial and is well known in the black political
establishment.
With New Orleans suffering from one of the highest per capita murder
rates among major American cities, Bagneris criticized Landrieu's
handling of the problem.
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Despite its persistently high crime rate compared to other large
U.S. cities, Landrieu in his speech on Saturday said New Orleans has
seen its murder rate drop to a 30-year low. He also pointed to
indicators of the city's progress that include rising employment and
improved schools.
He told a reporter with television station WWL, a CBS affiliate,
that strong support he received from black and white voters shows
New Orleans has found unity.
"We're not past race and anybody that says so is not telling the
truth," he told the reporter. "But the results for our team four
years ago and now show that people are beginning to think along
lines that are common to all of us. I think that says a lot about
how mature we're becoming as a city."
Boosted by massive federal aid, the city's population and economy
have grown steadily under Landrieu.
Tourism, one of New Orleans' biggest industries, has made a striking
recovery since Katrina hit in 2005, with visitor numbers in 2013
approaching a nine-year high.
The hurricane flooded 80 percent of the city, killed 1,500 people
and caused $80 billion in damage.
Landrieu had been seen in a more positive light due to the
corruption trial that started this week for his predecessor, Ray
Nagin. The former mayor is charged with receiving kickbacks from
those seeking contracts to help the city rebuild from Katrina during
his administration.
Voter frustration with Nagin helped Landrieu win in a landslide in
2010, which put the first white mayor in office in New Orleans since
his father left that seat in 1978.
(Reporting by Kathy Finn; writing by Jon Herskovitz and Alex
Dobuzinskis; editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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