This election was previously scheduled to be held on 4 February 2006[3] (along with elections for other local offices, including City Council members) but was postponed due to the devastation in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (see: Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans), and the fact that large numbers of New Orleanians are displaced and still unable to return home.

[6] At the time of the election, at least two-thirds of the city's residents were still displaced, scattered across the country facing serious obstacles (such as severely damaged houses, neighborhoods without reliable utilities, and financial constraints) to returning.

With the majority of the displaced residents staying outside Louisiana and outside the reach of local New Orleans media outlets, their ability to obtain information about the campaign remained open to question.

On February 24, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit by the NAACP, ACORN, and the Grassroots Legal Network seeking to set up physical polling places in cities like Houston, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia, which have large numbers of displaced New Orleanians.

The NAACP and other civil rights groups disputed these findings, arguing that they do not take into account people who are dispersed but have not filled out change-of-address paperwork.

[26] December, January, and February saw intense speculation among political observers as to who would emerge as Nagin's main rival in the upcoming campaign.

After months of private discussion and negotiation, both candidates decided to run; an unexpected development which had the potential to split the support of voters opposed to Nagin.

On January 24, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco ended months of public debate and legal wrangling by signing Secretary of State Al Ater's plan to reschedule the primary election for April 22 and the runoff for May 20.

[27] Ron Forman officially declared his candidacy on February 14 at the Audubon Tea Room in front of a crowd of business leaders and other supporters.

[28] On February 22, Mitch Landrieu made his long-anticipated official campaign announcement, with players in the city's hospitality and tourism industry and powerful real estate developer Pres Kabacoff featured prominently among his supporters.

Conducted between January 26 and February 13, the poll showed Mitch Landrieu leading with 35% of the vote and Ray Nagin trailing with 25%.

The debate was attended by Ray Nagin and 8 of his challengers: James Arey, Virginia Boulet, Rob Couhig, Ron Forman, Mitch Landrieu, Leo Watermeier, Tom Watson, and Peggy Wilson.

The two main challengers, Forman and Landrieu, were perceived as largely playing safe, while other candidates, particularly Couhig and Wilson, were more combative.

Like previous polls, these latest numbers only included current residents of New Orleans; without taking displaced voters into account, their accuracy remained questionable.

[38] On April 17, the major candidates—Boulet, Couhig, Forman, Landrieu, Nagin, Watson, and Wilson—appeared on a nationally televised debate co-hosted by Chris Matthews and New Orleans newsanchor Norman Robinson.

Alongside stressing his accomplishments in bringing jobs to New Orleans before the storm, Nagin's campaign emphasized the decisive role the mayor played in the aftermath of Katrina and the importance of the relationships he has built with state and federal leaders.

Landrieu emphasized his record in the state legislature and as Lieutenant Governor, and his ability to build consensus among a broad range of political players.

For their part, the Landrieu campaign criticized Nagin's go-it-alone governing style as alienating to New Orleans's potential allies, and his frequent gaffes as embarrassing to the city.

Landrieu ads featured shots of the city's abandoned flooded cars and blamed Nagin for his lack of leadership.

[40] In the runoff, Landrieu received endorsements from third-place primary finisher Ron Forman, as well as the city's police and fire organizations and District Attorney Eddie Jordan.

The runoff campaign was also affected by the May 9 release of the first major book about Katrina: historian Douglas Brinkley's The Great Deluge.

The book offers a scathing portrayal of Nagin's performance in the week after Katrina, describing him as a man on the verge of breakdown, hiding in the Hyatt hotel and refusing to emerge to take decisive action.

Landrieu won 87 precincts, primarily in Uptown, Mid-City, the French Quarter, the Faubourg Marigny, and Bywater neighborhoods.

Formerly a well-known and powerful figure on the city council, some saw Wilson's failure to get significant voter support as the end of her career in local politics.

With unofficial results showing 53% of the vote for Nagin, Landrieu conceded defeat shortly before 10:30 pm on election night.

[49] Some outside observers were shocked that Nagin defeated Landrieu, assuming that the embattled and controversial incumbent would not be able to muster the votes required to keep his position.

Taking these factors into account, Carvin and the Nagin campaign took a strategy of building a biracial coalition consisting of the large majority of black voters plus enough white conservatives to bring the mayor over 50%.

[51] Some analysts attributed Nagin's victory to a black turnout which was much larger than expected, mobilized by worries about the threat of a white political takeover and anger over what they perceived as an effort to disenfranchise dispersed voters who were unable to return to the city to vote.

[54] Other factors cited by some were the fond memory of Nagin's famous "get off your asses" radio interview during the worst days after Katrina, and what some saw as Landrieu's cautiously dispassionate campaigning style which some found uninspiring.