Mayor Sidney Barthelemy won a second term in a primary election Saturday over a white challenger after a campaign marked on both sides by accusations of race-baiting.
With 425 of 465 precincts - 91.3 percent - reporting, Barthelemy had 71,716 votes, or 55 percent, to 57,066, or 44 percent, for his fellow Democrat Donald Mintz. Two other candidates drew votes of 1 percent or less.Barthelemy, New Orleans' second black mayor, smiled broadly as he took the podium for a victory statement but became more serious as he called for New Orleans to join together after a divisive campaign.
"We are in difficult times. We have laid the foundations for the future. But we cannot build a great city divided," he said. "We all must work together."
Barthelemy, 47, did not announce victory until his 46-year-old opponent, an attorney who had never before run for office, conceded.