John Georges is an American businessman from New Orleans, who owns Louisiana's two largest newspapers and online news sites. He formerly served on the Louisiana Board of Regents, the body which supervises higher education in his native state. In 2007, he ran for governor as an independent. He received 186,000 votes and procured a plurality in Orleans Parish. In 2010, he sought the office of mayor of New Orleans as a Democrat; he finished a distant third behind two other Democrats.

Mitchell Joseph Landrieu is an American lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana from 2004 to 2010.