Filling slots, getting the titles in order

It's the traditional time in the municipal elections process where we sort out the "Who-Is-Blacks" and the "Who-Is-Whites" and figure out which of those runs for what.

It's been an unwritten political rule in New Orleans for decades that each of the two seats goes to one black and one white candidate. The trend has been bucked only twice since the mid-1970s, and both times at special elections that were held after Hurricane Katrina.

If it holds in this election, Williams, who is black, one could take one seat, while Moreno, who is white and Hispanic, could take the other. Moreno, for her part, said Thursday that she would make up her mind on that point as soon as next week.

Of course, no law would prevent black candidates like District D Councilman Jared Brossett from also seeking the seat, as he is considering doing. All at-large candidates now run for a designated seat, rather than in a single field, as was long the case.

One thing to consider is that, if things are starting to line up this neatly this early, it's a sign that the regular process of deciding everything behind the scenes is going forth undisrupted this year. That's probably a bad thing.