State Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, speaks during a Black Maternal Health Advocacy Day press conference on the steps of the state capitol on April 17, 2024.
State Senator Royce Duplessis, D-5, discusses SB203 during the the Senate’s Judiciary C committee on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, speaks at the podium as members of the Legislative Black Caucus and Democrats from the House and Senate hold a press conference on opening day of a legislative special session focusing on crime, Monday, February 19, 2024, at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, La.
State Senator Royce Duplessis, D-5, discusses SB203 during the the Senate’s Judiciary C committee on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
A rising star in Louisiana Democratic political circles who’d been weighing whether to run for New Orleans mayor decided Monday that he will not seek the coveted city-wide office this fall.
In an interview at his Central Business District law office, state Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, said he remains focused on unfinished work at the state Capitol, including legislation aimed at mending Louisiana’s beleagured insurance market. He was ultimately unable to furnish enough support from donors, he said, to justify mounting a campaign for the top political seat in the city of 364,000.
“I love this city, I believe in the people in this city and in its future,” he said. “For more than a year, I’ve been thoroughly exploring and considering running for mayor of New Orleans, listening to the people of this city. … We ultimately had to factor in what it would cost.”
Duplessis made clear he hasn’t ruled out running for mayor in future elections.
State Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, speaks during a Black Maternal Health Advocacy Day press conference on the steps of the state capitol on April 17, 2024.
Political observers had speculated for months about whether the attorney from Gentilly Woods would seek New Orleans’ highest office. His decision leaves the mayoral field, for now, with just one major candidate — Helena Moreno, the New Orleans City Council vice-president and a former state lawmaker who launched a long-rumored mayoral campaign last month.
Veteran City Council member Oliver Thomas has said he’s considering running and will decide by Mardi Gras.
Candidates in this fall’s municipal elections will have to win over voters who polling shows remain weary of navigating New Orleans’ entrenched quality-of-life problems — despite major strides the city made under the City Council and the embattled current mayor, LaToya Cantrell, who is term-limited, on reducing violent crime.
And in the wake of the deadly New Year’s Day vehicle-ramming attack on Bourbon Street, public safety and management of city security resources are likely to surface on the campaign trail.
Duplessis said the New Year’s Day carnage clarified the impact he can have in his current position representing New Orleans in the state Legislature.
But, he added, the Legislature’s grueling schedule over the past year — lawmakers met for three special assemblies and a regular session — limited his ability to effectively fundraise.
“In order to run the type of campaign that we want to run and that the city deserves, it’s going to take a level of resources that at this time we don’t feel like are in reach,” he said. “We’ve been in multiple sessions. In a few months I’ll be back in session for a few months.”
Duplessis was first elected to a state House seat in 2018 to replace Moreno after she won her seat on the City Council. He won a bitterly-fought race in November of 2022 for his current Senate seat by defeating a fellow Democratic state representative, progressive Mandie Landry. That Senate district covers such neighborhoods as Broadmoor, Uptown, the Irish Channel and Central City.
Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, speaks at the podium as members of the Legislative Black Caucus and Democrats from the House and Senate hold a press conference on opening day of a legislative special session focusing on crime, Monday, February 19, 2024, at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, La.
In the Legislature, Duplessis has championed bills advancing an array of Democratic priorities: limiting the release of arrest photographs, requiring universal perinatal mood disorder screening, ending solitary confinement for incarcerated youth and requiring school districts to teach mental health, among others.
Duplessis stayed quiet for months as as he mulled running for mayor. Only on Monday did his intentions become clear.
Duplessis earned a reputation as a young lawmaker for being able to work well with both Republicans and Democrats — an outlook he reiterated on Monday. Because 2025 is not a statewide or national election year, Duplessis said he hopes more bipartisan bills will make it through Legislature, particularly on insurance issues.
He said he hopes to channel that sense of bipartisanship into efforts to expand the state’s fortified roofs program, an initiative that seeks to strengthen homes most at risk from hurricanes.
Still, Duplessis has fashioned himself in the past year as one of the Legislature’s most vocal critics of Republican governor, Jeff Landry, and his onslaught of ambitious conservative policies. Whenever Landry’s favored bills came up for discussion, Duplessis strode to the microphone on the Senate floor or spoke up in committee rooms to question sponsors or enter a remark of protest.
Some political insiders have floated Duplessis as a potential candidate for the at-large City Council seat Moreno is set to vacate next year. He firmly shut down that possibility on Monday.
The mayoral field could still expand dramatically as qualifying for the race is set for July.
Several lower-profile candidates have thrown their hats in the ring. Ricky Twiggs, a licensed counselor and political independent, has begun building a grassroots campaign. And former Criminal Court judge Arthur Hunter has said he is considering running.
A poll paid for by “local business and community leaders” issued in November by John Couvillon, a Baton Rouge-based pollster who typically works with Republican clients, showed Moreno, a progressive who has also served in the state Legislature, holding an early lead over Thomas and Duplessis.
James Finn covers politics for The Times-Picayune | Nola.com. Email him at jfinn@theadvocate.com.
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