Ron Forman

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Ron Forman (born Leon Ronald Forman, c. 1948) is the head of the Audubon Nature Institute and was one of the leading candidates in the New Orleans mayoral election, 2006.

Forman worked in the administration of mayor Moon Landrieu in the early 1970s. Forman was named deputy director of the city's Audubon Zoo, a decrepit institution the city was making a major commitment to upgrade. Forman worked as a champion of the Zoo's improvements. Forman became president and CEO of the Audubon Nature Institute 1977, a role he has continued until going on unpaid leave to run for mayor in 2006. During his tenure the facilities of the Institute have undergone major expansions. The Institute runs not only the Audubon Zoo, but also Audubon Park, the Aquarium of the Americas, and other facilities.

Forman supported mayor Marc Morial's unsuccessful attempt to change the city charter to allow Morial a third term. After this Forman backed Ray Nagin in Nagin's successful 2002 electoral campaign for Mayor of New Orleans, but Forman broke with Nagin after Hurricane Katrina.

In his 2006 campaign for mayor, Forman proposed the creation of four deputy mayor posts, two white and two black, in an effort to promote better race relations. He has a high profile in the city’s business community and had strong support among New Orleans’s wealthy and business communities. He was widely perceived as the favored candidate of much of the city's old money white elite, although Forman himself is the son of working class Jewish parents. If elected, he would have been New Orleans' first Jewish mayor.

Preliminary results on the night of 22 April showed Forman with 17% of the vote; placing third. He conceded defeat, saying he would work to help whoever the eventual winner is. Forman endorsed Mitch Landrieu in the runoff, who was defeated by Nagin 52% to 48% on May 20.

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