Ernest Nathan "Dutch" Morial, was an American politician and a leading civil rights advocate. He was the first black mayor of New Orleans, serving from 1978 to 1986. He was the father of Marc Morial, who served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002.

The post of Mayor of the City of New Orleans has been held by the following individuals since New Orleans came under American administration following the Louisiana Purchase — the 1803 acquisition by the U.S. of 828,800 square miles (2,147,000 km2) of the French province La Louisiane. In all mayoral elections since 1930, New Orleans has used a two-round system with a preliminary round and a runoff if no candidate reached a majority in the first round. All mayors of New Orleans since 1872 have been Democrats.