Times up for Teedy.

Fatigued by a near decade’s worth of incompetence (blinking traffic signals and a stream of boil water advisories), scandal, and utter lack of confidence bordering on despair, the voters of New Orleans pulled the plug on a drawn-out election runoff contest and turned the page by giving Councilwoman Helena Moreno a first round victory in Saturday’s city elections.

Folks were ready to move on, and Moreno was in the best position to get things started sooner.

Moreno’s campaign received unintended assists from her two main opponents, who were handicapped by their own actions.

Councilman Oliver Thomas (once considered a shoo-in to win the city’s top job in 2010) was haunted by a federal conviction while State Senator Royce Duplessis (long projected to be Moreno’s top rival) had publicly removed himself from contention before formally jumping in the race.

Duplessis’s absence during a critical fundraising period had contributed to the sense of inevitability of Moreno’s election. As the axiom goes, time punishes those who are late.

My fellow conservatives won’t find much to cheer about Moreno’s politics. She’s stridently progressive and once Interned for Hillary Clinton (!) before entering the field of journalism (!!).

And before Moreno started to contend with the more mundane matters of city government, then-state legislator Moreno launched a feminist oriented social media campaign entitled “it’s no joke”.

The cynical amongst us might have seen it as a means to create a political identity that would bridge racial demographics prior to running for citywide office as an at-large council candidate, though there’s no doubt of her sincerity on the subject.

Moreno’s mayoral bid was endorsed by the Landrieu Family and former Vice-President Kamala Harris, a returned political favor as the former WDSU reporter had backed the then-California US Senator’s (first) disastrous bid for the White House in 2019.

As Orleans Parish gave Donald Trump a mere 15% of the city vote in each of his three presidential campaigns, nobody should be surprised that the new mayor is as reliably hard core Democratic as every previous mayor not named Vic Schiro has been.

Even Jussie Smollett would’ve thought twice about pulling his “MAGA Country” canard on Claiborne Avenue.

That said, Moreno isn’t devoid of agreeable leadership qualities.

Moreno is a proven reformer. Beyond her sparring with Mayor Cantrell, most people have forgotten that she challenged a soon to be incarcerated Bill Jefferson for his congressional seat in 2008. And had a weather event not pushed the election back a month, might have won her party’s nomination.

And to Moreno’s credit she took a personal risk by endorsing Republican Joseph Cao in the general election, directly facilitating the Vietnamese immigrant’s historic election.

In contrast to the scowling countenance that visitors saw at the New Orleans airport upon picking up their luggage, Moreno will be a warm and engaging spokesperson for the city and pitchwoman for businesses seeking to expand their operations in New Orleans and major events, the bread and butter for the tourism over reliant local economy.

At a minimum I’m not anticipating a toast of “aw hell wrecks” or display of middle fingers from the parade reviewing stands at Gallier Hall this Mardi Gras.

Moreno has a track record of working with people, which should lead to less contentious city council meetings and better working relationships with the Republican-led state and federal governments.

New Orleans has many needs and long overdue infrastructure improvements and facility renovations (Municipal Auditorium – closed since before Katrina) and a mayor focused on priorities in lieu of personal recreation would be welcome.

Times Picayune columnist Stephanie Grace giddily bestowed the moniker “Mandate Moreno” on the mayor-elect.

And though the primary victory and large coalition that powered it will help ease the way for the implementation of Moreno’s agenda, it could also lead to friction amongst competing interests and slow the pace down in an attempt to build consensus.

Mayor Moreno’s expectations won’t be measured against Mayor Cantrell but the electoral mandate, thus saddling the new city executive with complete ownership of the good times and the bad – even if the latter are beyond her control.

Also large coalitions tend to be unwieldy from there being too many parties of interest at the table. There’s a fine line between “good government” and “favorable government.”

The historic nature of her election belies her political vulnerability- lack of precedent isn’t common in a city reluctant to change its ways and the electorate’s flirtations with genuine reform have historically been fleeting.

As the former incarcerated Councilman for District E reminded everyone in his bitter concession speech, the matter of race lurks large in city politics.

As if to further underscore his point, Thomas referenced the song “The Backstabbers” in his remarks. Never mind that OT was the opponent every candidate dreamed to face in a runoff.

On election day signs were posted across neutral grounds in predominantly African-American neighborhoods with the words “this is our city” in black and white – a not so subtle motivation to encourage people to vote on race.

Mayor-elect Moreno successfully defied political gravity on election night. But the reality is her margin for error will be smaller than her predecessors.

It might not be fair nor justifiable, but it is what it is.

The Moreno Mandate is not so much a victory lap but a deed of ownership to the challenges that have plagued New Orleans long before she ran for office.

It’s all on Helena now.