Wide field of candidates qualifies for mayoral, City Council races
 

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Eighteen people filed to run for New Orleans mayor, and another 34 qualified for the seven seats on the New Orleans City Council as qualifying at the Orleans Parish Clerk of Court's office wound down this afternoon.

Among the expected mayoral candidates were a few surprises, including a visual artist who made his announcement via a rap video; a longtime French Quarter sommelier who founded the "Krewe of Cork"; and perennial mayoral candidate Manny Chevrolet Bruno, whose never-out-of-date slogan is "A Troubled Man for Troubled Times."

Several of the council seats have no incumbent running due to term limits, though no seat went uncontested. The race with the fewest entrants is in District C, where incumbent Nadine Ramsey will face off against former District C councilwoman Kristen Gisleson Palmer, who represented C from 2010 to 2014.

The primary election is three months from today ? Oct. 14 ? while a runoff, if necessary, will be held Nov. 18.?