1998 New Orleans mayoral election

The New Orleans mayoral election of 1998 was held on February 7, 1998, and resulted in the reelection of incumbent Marc Morial to a second term as Mayor of New Orleans.

Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. presidential elections—follow a variation of the open primary system. Candidates of any and all parties are listed on one ballot; voters need not limit themselves to the candidates of one party. Unless one candidate takes more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a run-off election is then held between the top two candidates, who may in fact be members of the same party. In this election, no run-off was needed as Morial won over 50% of the vote in the first round.

Marc Morial won an easy re-election, with the widest margin of victory in a New Orleans election in several decades. Neither of his opponents - lawyer Kathleen Cresson and arts store manager Paul Borrello - were particularly well-known. With the re-election of the popular Morial widely seen as a foregone conclusion months before election day, the race met with unusual apathy among the city's media and electorate. Debates were not televised, no polls were commissioned, and only 41% of New Orleans electors bothered to vote.