Helena Moreno

Journalism

Moreno completed internships with KTRK-TV and KHOU-TV in Houston during her undergraduate years at SMU.^{[citation needed]} After graduation, she worked as a reporter for WTOC-TV in Savannah, Georgia.^{[citation needed]} In 2001, she was recruited by the Hearst-Argyle Broadcasting Corporation to work at WDSU-TV in New Orleans.^[8] There, she became anchor for the morning news. Moreno received a Broadcaster of the Year award from the Louisiana Federation of Teachers for her reporting on Hurricane Katrina in 2005.^{[citation needed]} She was also voted best television reporter by Gambit readers for four years and won a local Emmy Award for her Hurricane Katrina coverage.^{[citation needed]}

Moreno left her career in broadcasting in 2008 to pursue public service.^[9]

Politics

In March 2008, Moreno resigned from her position at WDSU-TV to challenge then-incumbent U.S. Representative William J. Jefferson in Louisiana's 2nd congressional district Democratic primary election.^[10] She received sufficient votes to force the incumbent into a runoff election, which she lost.^[11] Jefferson was subsequently defeated in the general election by Republican Joseph Cao, whom Moreno endorsed along with other Democrats such as New Orleans City Council members Jackie Clarkson and Stacy Head.^[12]

In 2010, after the election of Karen Carter Peterson to the Louisiana State Senate, Moreno became a candidate for Peterson's vacated District 93 seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives.^[13] The special election primary took place on May 1, 2010,^[14] with Moreno obtaining 27% of the vote and entering a runoff election with James Perry, who had garnered 38%.^[15] Her runoff campaign was overshadowed by personal controversies, including an allegation of a major traffic violation, which became a central focus.^[16] However, the Perry campaign's questionable handling of the allegation two weeks before the runoff led the New Orleans Times-Picayune to withdraw its endorsement of Perry. (The newspaper endorsed neither candidate in the race.)^[17] Moreno won the election on May 29, 2010^[18] and was unopposed for reelection in 2011.

On October 14, 2017, Moreno won the Division 1 at-large seat on the New Orleans City Council, defeating two opponents by nearly a 2-to-1 margin and avoiding a runoff.^[19][1] She served as city council president from 2019 to 2023, after which she became vice president.^[20]

Involvement in fatal car crash

On October 14, 2002, a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Moreno was struck by a 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 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."^[25]

In 2010, her involvement in the fatal traffic accident was publicly scrutinized, with opponents raising allegations of negligent homicide and preferential treatment by law enforcement.^[26]