Helena Nancy Moreno (born September 30, 1977) is a Mexican-American realtot, equestrienne, former journalist, and politician serving as the president of the

New Orleans City Council The New Orleans City Council is the legislative branch of the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The current mayor-council form of city government was created in 1954, following the 1950 amendment of the state constitution that provide ...

and First Division Councilmember-at-Large. Moreno was formerly a Democratic member of the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 repr ...

, where she represented the District 93. She was first elected in May 2010 during a special election and was unopposed in her re-election in the fall of 2011. On October 14, 2017, Moreno was elected to the Division 1 at-large seat on the

, winning by nearly 2–1 against her two opponents, fellow Democratic state Representative Joseph Bouie Jr. and Democrat Kenneth Cutno, and avoiding a runoff.

Early life and education

Helena Moreno was born in the seaside city of

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, Mexico, the daughter of oil executive Felix Moreno and academic Nancy Pearson Moreno. With her parents she moved to

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, where she was a 1995 graduate of Episcopal High School. Moreno is a 1999 graduate in

mass communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large segments of the population. It is usually understood for relating to various forms of media, as its technologies are used for the dissemination o ...

from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

(SMU) in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, where she wrote for the '' Daily Campus''; she also studied at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

while working in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

for

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

. A native speaker of both English and Spanish, Moreno studied for six months in Madrid, Spain.

Career

Journalism

Prior to graduation from SMU, Moreno completed internships with

KTRK-TV KTRK-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on Bissonnet Street ...

and

KHOU-TV KHOU (channel 11) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Conroe-licensed Quest station KTBU (channel 55). Both stations share studios on Westheimer Road near Uptown ...

in Houston. After graduation, she went to

WTOC-TV WTOC-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Savannah, Georgia, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Gray Television. The station's studios are located off Chatham Center Drive in Savannah's Chatham Parkway section, and its transmi ...

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, whence she was recruited by

Hearst-Argyle Hearst Television, Inc. (formerly Hearst-Argyle Television) is a broadcasting company in the United States owned by Hearst Communications. From 1998 to mid-2009, the company traded its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ...

Broadcasting Corporation for

WDSU-TV WDSU (channel 6) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on Howard Avenue in the city's Central Business District, and its transmitt ...

in New Orleans. At WDSU, Moreno became anchor for the morning news. Her reporting during

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

brought her accolades, including a citation as Broadcaster of the Year from the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the (AFL-CIO). During her career in journalism, she received several awards from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, was voted best television reporter by ''Gambit Magazine'' readers for four consecutive years and was part of the team awarded an Emmy for outstanding coverage during hurricane Katrina. 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 The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

William J. Jefferson William Jennings Jefferson (born March 14, 1947) is an American former politician from Louisiana whose career ended after his corruption scandal and conviction. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 ...

Louisiana's 2nd congressional district Louisiana's 2nd congressional district contains nearly all of the city of New Orleans and stretches west and north to Baton Rouge. The district is currently represented by Democrat Troy Carter. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+25, ...

Democratic

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

. Her campaign was insistent on obtaining "the answers we deserve" concerning inadequate efforts to rebuild New Orleans after

. She received sufficient votes to force the incumbent into a

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

, which Jefferson won. Jefferson was subsequently defeated, in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Joseph Cao Ánh Quang "Joseph" Cao (, ; vi, Cao Quang Ánh; born March 13, 1967) is a Vietnamese–American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he is the first Vietnamese American and first ...

, who had Moreno's endorsement as well as that of other Democrats such as

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

women

Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson (born January 17, 1936) is an American politician who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002, and multiple tenures on the New Orleans City Council (1990–94, 2002–06, 2007–2013). She ...

and

Stacy Head Stacy Aline Singleton Head (born June 30, 1969) is an American lawyer and former president of the New Orleans City Council. Early life and career Stacy Head was born in 1969 as the daughter of the former Katherine Hamberlin and Ernest Lynn Single ...

. In 2010, after the election of

Karen Carter Peterson Karen Carter Peterson (born November 1, 1969) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a member of the Louisiana State House from 1999 to 2010, then as the state senator from the 5th district until her resignation in 2022. She ...

to the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is compose ...

, Moreno became a candidate for Peterson's vacated District 93 seat in the

. The

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

occurred on 2010 May 1, with Moreno obtaining 27 percent of the vote and entering a

with James Perry, who had 38 percent. Much of the runoff campaign, which Moreno won, involved personal issues of allegations of traffic violations. The allegations, and Perry's handling of them, were such that two weeks before the runoff the ''

Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...

'', which earlier had endorsed Perry, withdrew its endorsement.

Personal life

Moreno is also a realtor with Talbot Realty Group in New Orleans and resides in

Uptown, New Orleans Uptown is a primarily residential New Orleans neighborhoods, neighborhood of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Uptown New Orleans, Uptown/Carrollton, New Orleans, Carrollton Area, its boundaries as defined by t ...

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. The incident became the subject of controversy in 2010 when a political opponent attacked Moreno for her involvement in the accident, attempting to link Moreno to the death of the passenger in the other car with a campaign news release referring to an "accident report involving alleged negligent homicide and apparent preferential treatment."https://www.nola.com/news/politics/article_2159e1f9-6b8e-5310-9a6a-f4d63e95255c.html 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."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moreno, Helena 1977 births 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American women 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American United Methodists American University alumni American women journalists Communications consultants Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Journalists from Texas Living people Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Mexican emigrants to the United States New Orleans City Council members People from Houston People from Veracruz (city) Politicians from Savannah, Georgia Politicians from Veracruz Southern Methodist University alumni Women city councillors in Louisiana Women state legislators in Louisiana Writers from Veracruz