The New Orleans mayoral election of 1950 was held on January 24, 1950. It resulted in the re-election of
deLesseps Morrison
deLesseps Story Morrison Sr., also known as Chep Morrison (January 18, 1912 – May 22, 1964), was an American attorney and politician who was the 54th mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1946 to 1961. He then served as an appointee of U.S. ...
to his second term as
Mayor of New Orleans.
Like most Southern states between
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
and the civil rights era,
Louisiana's Republican Party was virtually nonexistent in terms of electoral support. This meant that the city's Democratic primary was the real contest for mayor.
Incumbent mayor deLesseps Morrison was backed by labor unions, the major newspapers, and black New Orleanians, but he also publicly maintained his support for segregation on the campaign trail.
After being defeated in the
election of 1946, the
Regular Democratic Organization The Regular Democratic Organization (RDO), or Old Regulars, or the New Orleans Ring, is a conservative political organization based in New Orleans. It has existed for 130 years and as of 2017 is still active. The symbol of the RDO is the rooster. F ...
political machine was anxious to regain control of the city. After an unsuccessful search for a candidate that briefly included former mayor
Robert Maestri
Robert Sidney Maestri (December 11, 1899 – May 6, 1974) was mayor of New Orleans from 1936 to 1946 and a key ally of Huey P. Long Jr. and Earl Kemp Long.
Early life
Robert Maestri was born in New Orleans on December 11, 1899, the son of, Fr ...
, the RDO threw its support behind
Charles C. Zatarain, a local businessman and member of the Louisiana Tax Commission. Zatarain also received the endorsement of Governor
Earl Long. Though running against Morrison, Zatarain’s platform was largely a watered-down copy of Morrison’s. Zatarain also used racial appeals in his campaign, charging that Morrison planned to build housing for African Americans in Lakeview and Gentilly and circulating photographs of Morrison with black leader Ralph Bunche.
Another minor candidate,
Alvin A. Cobb, ran on an explicit
Dixiecrat
The States' Rights Democratic Party (whose members are often called the Dixiecrats) was a short-lived segregationist political party in the United States, active primarily in the South. It arose due to a Southern regional split in opposition t ...
platform that included racial attacks on Morrison’s policies.
In the first primary, Morrison won an overwhelming majority over Zatarain, receiving 65% of the vote and winning every one of the city’s 17 wards. Cobb received 4,751 votes. No runoff was needed. With five of Morrison’s seven candidates for council also winning election, it seemed as though the RDO was irrevocably beaten.
Sources
* Fairclough, Adam. ''Race and Democracy: The Civil Rights Struggle in Louisiana, 1915-1972''. University of Georgia Press, 1995.
* Haas, Edward F. ''DeLesseps S. Morrison and the Image of Reform: New Orleans Politics, 1946-1961.'' LSU Press, 1974.
* Parker, Joseph B. ''The Morrison Era: Reform Politics in New Orleans.'' Pelican, 1974.
{{1950 United States elections
Mayoral elections in New Orleans
1950 Louisiana elections