Misplaced Pages

Helena Moreno

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
American politician For the Angolan actress, see Helena Moreno (actress). For the Costa Rican swimmer, see Helena Moreno (swimmer).

Helena Moreno
Moreno in 2017
Vice President of the New Orleans City Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 2019
Preceded byJason Williams
Member of the New Orleans City Council
from the at-large district
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 2018
Preceded byStacy Head
Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
from the 93rd district
In office
May 2010 – April 9, 2018
Preceded byKaren Carter Peterson
Succeeded byRoyce Duplessis
Personal details
Born (1977-09-30) September 30, 1977 (age 47)
Veracruz, Mexico
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseChris Meeks
Residence(s)Uptown, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
EducationSouthern Methodist University (BA)
American University

Helena Nancy Moreno (born September 30, 1977) is a Mexican-American realtor, equestrienne, former journalist, and politician serving as the president of the New Orleans City Council and First Division Councilmember-at-Large.

Moreno was formerly a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, where she represented the District 93. She was elected in May 2010 in a special election and re-elected unopposed in 2011.

On October 14, 2017, Moreno won the Division 1 at-large seat on the New Orleans City Council, defeating her two opponents by nearly a 2-to-1 margin and avoiding a runoff.

On October 8, 2024, Moreno filed paperwork to run for Mayor of New Orleans.

Early life and education

Helena Moreno was born in Veracruz, Mexico, to oil executive Felix Moreno and academic Nancy Pearson Moreno. Her family later moved to Houston, Texas, where she graduated from Episcopal High School in 1995. In 1999, she earned a degree in mass communication from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas. While at SMU, she wrote for the Daily Campus newspaper. Moreno also studied at American University in Washington, D.C., where she interned at the White House for First Lady Hillary Clinton. Fluent in English and Spanish, she spent six months studying in Madrid, Spain.

Career

Journalism

Prior to graduation from SMU, Moreno completed internships with KTRK-TV and KHOU-TV in Houston. After graduation, she went to WTOC-TV in Savannah, Georgia, whence she was recruited by Hearst-Argyle Broadcasting Corporation for WDSU-TV in New Orleans. At WDSU, Moreno became anchor for the morning news. While covering Hurricane Katrina, Moreno received accolades such as Broadcaster of the Year from the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, though these awards came amid widespread criticism of media coverage during the disaster. She was voted best television reporter by Gambit readers for four years and won an Emmy for Hurricane Katrina coverage.

She left her broadcast news career in 2008 to pursue public service.

Politics

In March 2008, Moreno resigned from WDSU to challenge then-incumbent United States Representative William J. Jefferson in Louisiana's 2nd congressional district Democratic primary election. Her campaign leveraged dissatisfaction with post-Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, focusing on criticism rather than specific policy solutions. She received sufficient votes to force the incumbent into a runoff election, which she lost.

Jefferson was subsequently defeated, in the general election, by Republican Joseph Cao, whom Moreno had endorsed along with that of other Democrats such as City Councilwomen Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson and Stacy Head.

In 2010, after the election of Karen Carter Peterson to the Louisiana State Senate, Moreno became a candidate for Peterson's vacated District 93 seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives. The special election primary occurred on 2010 May 1, with Moreno obtaining 27 percent of the vote and entering a runoff election with James Perry, who had 38 percent. Her runoff campaign was overshadowed by personal controversies, including allegations of traffic violations, which were a central focus. However, Perry's handling of the allegations two weeks before the runoff led the Times-Picayune, which earlier had endorsed Perry, to withdraw its endorsement of him.

Personal life

Moreno is also a realtor with Talbot Realty Group in New Orleans and resides in Uptown, New Orleans with her husband, Chris Meeks.

Involvement in fatal car crash

On October 14, 2002, a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Moreno struck another car that had run a red light at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Carondelet Street, according to a police report. A passenger in the other car died. According to the report, Moreno admitted to driving 35 in a 25 mph zone, and the investigator determined that the other car ran the red light.

In 2010, her involvement in a fatal traffic accident was publicly scrutinized, with opponents raising allegations of negligent homicide and preferential treatment by law enforcement.

The police report notes that Moreno was taken to the Ochsner Foundation Hospital by police officers before investigators arrived. At the hospital, she answered authorities' questions and submitted to blood and urine tests. The report states that Moreno "did not display any signs of impairment ... or the odor of alcoholic beverages on her breath," and concludes that if the driver of the other vehicle had "not disregarded the traffic signal, the crash may not have occurred."

See also

References

  1. Moreno wins seat in the state House in Times-Picayune, 2010 May 30, Metro Edition, p. B1 (accessed 2010 May 30) James Perry in a special election runoff. She received 56 percent (1274 votes) to Perry's 44 percent (1011 votes); turnout was 8.8 percent (Election returns Archived February 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine from the Louisiana Secretary of State, 2010 May 29) Retrieved June 1, 2010.
  2. Greg LaRose (October 14, 2017). "Helena Moreno takes at-large seat on New Orleans City Council". New Orleans Times-Picayune. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  3. Ramon Antonio Vargas (October 14, 2017). "Helena Moreno wins New Orleans City Council At-Large Division 1 seat, will succeed Stacy Head". New Orleans Advocate. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  4. Finn, James (November 8, 2024). "Helena Moreno is officially running for New Orleans mayor, documents show". Times-Picayune. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  5. Nancy Pearson Moreno on Peoplefinders.com, Felix Moreno on Peoplefinders.com. Felix Moreno is a Texas oilman, and Nancy Pearson Moreno, who holds a Ph.D. in botany from Rice University, is employed by Baylor College of Medicine.
  6. Alongi, Allen (March 29, 2017). "The Ladies Advocate: Helena Moreno". festigals. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  7. 2nd District Congressional race: Helena Moreno vows honesty, change, Times-Picayune (New Orleans), 2008 August 22.
  8. LA-02 Democratic runoff election map. Archived February 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Louisiana generally requires a second election of the two highest vote-getters if no candidate receives a majority in the first election.
  9. Krupa, Michelle; Donze, Frank (December 6, 2008). "Anh 'Joseph' Cao beats Rep. William Jefferson in 2nd Congressional District". Times-Picayune. Retrieved December 20, 2008. Cao had already inherited the preponderance of Moreno's volunteers (Jeff Crouere, Joseph Cao getting support Archived July 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine on Ringsidepolitics.com ). On 2009 August 5, Jefferson was convicted on 11 of 16 felony counts (details and sources in William J. Jefferson#Indictment and Trial).
  10. "Moreno Today" in Times-Picayune, 2010 May 1, Saint Tammany Edition, p. A6 (print version only).
  11. Proclamation of special election Archived December 24, 2016, at the Wayback Machine by Jim Tucker, Speaker of the House, dated 2010 March 11, for primary election 2010 May 1 (accessed 2010 May 1).
  12. David Hammer, James Perry, Helena Moreno to meet in state 93rd House District runoff, in Times-Picayune, 2010 May 2 (accessed 2010 May 2). Perry had run fifth in the primary election for Mayor of New Orleans previously in 2010.
  13. The allegations came from both sides. House runoff decided today, Times-Picayune, 2010 May 29 (accessed 2010 May 30).
  14. No endorsement in House District 93 election: An editorial Times-Picayune, 2010 May 12 (accessed 2010 May 30). Perry had had more than 100 tickets since 2006.
  15. Williams, Jessica (March 9, 2017). "Why Louisiana state Rep. Helena Moreno is seeking New Orleans City Council at-large seat". NOLA.com. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  16. https://thelensnola.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/full-moreno-report.pdf
  17. "James Perry goes on attack against rival Helena Moreno with fatal traffic accident report". May 21, 2010.
Members of the New Orleans City Council
   

District A
Joseph Giarrusso
(Democrat)

District B
Lesli Harris
(Democrat)

District C
Freddie King III
(Democrat)

District D
Eugene J. Green
(Democrat)

District E
Oliver Thomas
(Democrat)

At-large
Helena Moreno‡
(Democrat)

At-large
Jean-Paul Morrell†
(Democrat)

†President, ‡Vice President
Portals: Categories: