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April 2023 Election Results Sets New 14-Member Board of Aldermen

April 5, 2023 Board of Aldermen, Featured, Politics/Policy Comments Off on April 2023 Election Results Sets New 14-Member Board of Aldermen

St. Louis voters have selected their candidates for our new 14 wards, cut in half from the 28 wards for more than a century.

St. Louis City Hall

Of the 28 the following aldermen didn’t run this year:

  • Dwinderlin Evans (4th ward)
  • Christine Ingrassia (6th ward)
  • Jack Coatar (7th ward)
  • Annie Rice (8th ward)
  • Dan Guenter (9th ward)
  • James Lappe (11th ward)
  • Bill Stephens (12th ward)
  • Carol Howard (14th ward)
  • Jesse Todd (18th ward)
  • Marlene Davis (19th ward)

The following aldermen ran, but were defeated in the March primary:

  • Michael J. Gras was the 28th ward alderman, coming in a very close 3rd in a 3-way primary in the new 9th ward.
  • Lisa Middlebrook was the 2nd ward alderman, but was defeated in a 3-way race against two other existing aldermen in the new 13th ward.
  • Brandon Bosley (3rd ward) and James Page (5th ward) were defeated in a 4-way primary race in the new 14th ward.

The following aldermen were defeated in Tuesday’s general election:

  • Joe Vaccaro, longtime conservative alderman in the 23rd ward, was defeated by 24th ward alderman Bret Narayan in the new 4th ward.
  • Tina Pihl was 17th ward alderman, losing to Michael Browning in the new 9th ward.
  • In the new 13th ward Norma Walker, recently elected to fill the 22nd ward seat, was defeated by 27th ward alderman Pamela Boyd.

Two former aldermen lost in their attempts to return to the board: Ken Ortmann & Jennifer Florida.

State Rep Rasheen Aldridge thankfully defeated Hubbard dynasty candidate Ebony Washington. Aldridge will resign as state rep to be sworn in as 14th ward alderman. A special election will be held to fill the state rep seat — hopefully a Hubbard won’t be elected.

The new 14-member board of aldermen will be:

  • 1) Anne Schweitzer* (13th)
  • 2) Thomas Oldenburg* (16th)
  • 3) Shane Cohn* (25th)
  • 4) Bret Narayan* (24th)
  • 5) Joseph Vollmer* (10th)
  • 6) Daniela Velazquez
  • 7) Alisha Sonnier
  • 8) Cara Spencer* (20th)
  • 9) Michael Browning
  • 10) Shameem Hubbard* (26th)
  • 11) Laura Keys* (21st)
  • 12) Sharon Tyus* (1st)
  • 13) Pamela Boyd* (27th)
  • 14) Rasheen Aldridge

So ten of the fourteen aldermen were reelected (marked with *, followed by their pre-2023 ward number), with only four being entirely new to the board. With Aldridge, the board will now have two openly LGBTQ members, joining Cohn.

Fifty percent are people of color (PoC), and one more than half are women. When you include the board president, comptroller, and mayor this is the first time in the 259-year history of the city that women and people of color will be in charge — long overdue!

I believe it is the new aldermen representing the even-numbered wards that will start with 4-year terms — those representing odd-numbered wards will initially have only a 2-year term. In 2025 the odd-numbered wards will hold elections for 4-year terms.

Voters also approved Proposition C establishing a Charter Commission to propose charter amendments to voters. I strongly recommend language changes to eliminate the March primary — with instant runoff/ranked-choice voting in every April in races with 3+ candidates. We shouldn’t have to go the polls just 4 weeks apart!

A 3% tax on recreational/adult-use cannabis was approved in the city, and in St. Louis County. Though I’m a supporter of legal cannabis, I’m among those who voted yes because these jurisdictions will need to provide city services.

Sadie Weiss and Tracy Hykes were elected to the board of education, Nicole Robinson defeated incumbent Pam Ross for a trustee seat on the community college board. Voters approved the DeBaliviere special business tax district.

— Steve
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St. Louis urban planning, policy, and politics @ UrbanReviewSTL since October 31, 2004. For additional content please consider following on Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and/or Twitter.

 

Dramatic Changes for St. Louis’ 2023 Primary & General Elections

January 9, 2023 Board of Aldermen, Featured, Politics/Policy Comments Off on Dramatic Changes for St. Louis’ 2023 Primary & General Elections

The 2023 spring municipal elections in St. Louis will be very different than any of us have every experienced. There’ll still be a March primary and an April general — but the primary will be non-partisan, both will begin the change from 28 wards to 14.  The primary is 8 weeks from tomorrow.

Election headquarters
The St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners is on the first floor at 300 N. Tucker (@ Olive)

We’ve had the nonpartisan primary for one or two elections, but with 28 total wards. This being the first election downsizing to 14 there are no incumbents — all 14 seats are new and up for election. Seven will be elected to an initial 2-year term, the other 7 to a 4-year term. This will make future elections staggered, with only half the seats up for election every two odd years. 

Until changed, races with only 1-2 candidates will be the same for primary & general elections — rather silly. Races with 3+ primary candidates will have the top 2 primary finishers on our general election ballots.

Remember— nearly everyone in the city has a new ward number. The March 7th & April 4th elections are both important — at least wards with 3 or more candidates in the primary.

Okay, let’s look at each race. The number in parentheses is the number of candidates in the primary, the areas listed are some/all of the neighborhoods in this ward. The President and ward headings are all links to relevant maps.

President of the Board of Alderman (1): Citywide

Incumbent Megan Ellyia Green only recently won a challenged special election to finish the term of disgraced Lewis Reed, so it’s no surprise she’s not challenged now. I suspect this will not be the case in 2027.

Ward 1 (3): Bevo Mill, Holly Hills, Carondelet, Patch

This far south ward has three people running for the seat:
– Annie Schweitzer (current 13th ward alderman)
– Matthew Kotraba
– Tony Kirchner

All three live in the 63116 zip code.

Ward 2 (3): Bevo Mill, Boulevard Hts, Princeton Hts, St. Louis Hills

This southwest ward also has three candidates:
– Phill Menendez
– Thomas R. Oldenburg (current 16th ward alderman)
– Katie Bellis

All three live in the 63109 zip code.

Ward 3 (1): Dutchtown, Carondelet, Mount Pleasant, Gravois Park

Current 25th ward alderman Shane Cohn is the only candidate, he lives in the 63111 zip code.

Ward 4 (3): Lindenwood Park, Clifton Heights, Ellendale, Franz Park…

This southwest ward has three candidates — one of several races pitting current aldermen against each other:
– Bret Narayan, current 24th ward alderman
– Joseph (Joe) Vaccaro, current 23rd ward alderman
– Casey Otto

All three live in the 63139 zip code.

Ward 5 (2): Southampton, North Hampton, The Hill, SW Garden…

This south ward has only two candidates, so both will appear on the March & April ballots:
– Joseph (Joe) Vollmer, current 10th ward alderman
– Helen Petty

Both live in the 63110 zip code.

Ward 6 (2): Tower Grove South, Shaw, Compton Heights…

This south ward also has only two candidates, so both will be on both the primary & general ballots:
– Daniela Valezquez
– Jennifer Florida

Valezquez lives in 63110, Florida in 63116.

Ward 7 (3): Gravois Park, Benton Park West, Tower Grove East, Fox Park…

This south ward has three candidates:
– Alisha Sonnier
– J.P. Mitchom
– Cedric (C-Sharp) Redmon

They live in the 63118, 63110, 63104 zip codes, respectively.

Ward 8 (3): Marine Villa, Benton Park, Soulard, Downtown…

This south ward has three candidates:
– Shedrick (Nato Caliph) Kelley
– Cara Spencer, current 20th ward alderman
– Kenneth A. (Ken) Ortmann

Kelley lives in the 63104 zip code, Spencer and Ortmann in 63118.

Ward 9 (3): Forest Park Southeast, Central West End, Kings Oak…

This central corridor ward has three candidates, including 2 current aldermen:
– Tina (Sweet-T) Pihl, current 17th ward alderman
– Michael Browning
– Michael J. Gras, current 28th ward alderman

Pihl and Browning live in the 63110 zip code, Gras in 63108.

Ward 10 (2): Wydown Skinker, Skinker DeBaliviere, Academy, Lewis Place…

This northwest ward has only two candidates:
– Sameem Clark Hubbard, current 26th ward alderman
– Emmett L. Coleman

Both live in the 63112 zip code.

Ward 11 (2): O’Fallon, Jeff Vanderlou, Midtown…

This north central ward has only two candidates:
– Laura Keys, recently elected 21st ward alderman, finishing term of John Collins-Muhammad.
– Carla (Coffee) Wright

Both live in the 63115 zip code.

Ward 12 (5): The Ville, Baden, Mark Twain…

At five, this north ward has the most candidates of any! Seven filed, but one didn’t meet the signature obligation and the other withdrew. The remaining five on the ballot are:
– Darron M. Collins-Bey
– Tishara T. Earl
– Yolanda (Glass) Brown
– Walter Rush
– Sharon Tyus, currently the 1st ward alderman

Collins-Bey, Brown, and Rush live in the 63115 zip code, Earl in 63147, Tyus in 63113.

Ward 13 (3): Wells Goodfellow, Walnut Park (East & West), Baden…

This far north ward has three candidates — all three currently serving on the Board of Aldermen:
– Norma J. Walker, recently elected 22nd ward alderman, finishing term of Jeffrey Boyd
– Pamela Boyd, current 27th ward alderman
– Lisa Middlebrook, current 2nd ward alderman

Walker lives in the 63120 zip code, Boyd in 63136, Middlebrook in 63147.

Ward 14 (4): College Hill, Hyde Park, Old North, Columbus Square…

This north ward is my ward, I’ll have four candidates to choose from in the primary:
– James Page, currently serving as 5th ward alderman
– Brandon Bosley, currently serving as 3rd ward alderman
– Rasheen Aldridge, currently serving as 78th district state representative
– Ebony M. Washington

James Page lives in the 63103 zip code, Bosley and Aldridge in 63107, Washington in 63106.

Current aldermen not running in 2023

The following ten aldermen are not candidates (current ward):
– Dwinderlin Evans (4th)
– Christine Ingrassia (6th)
– Jack Coatar (7th)
– Annie Rice (8th)
– Dan Guenther (9th)
– James Lappe (11th)
– Bill Stephens (12th)
– Carol Howard (14th)
– Jesse Todd (18th)
– Marlene Davis (19th)

Additional thoughts

All this means at least fifteen of the current 27 (there’s one vacancy) ward Board of Aldermen will end their service in a few months. Given that 28 wards are being cut in half to 14 this isn’t a surprise. As many as 25 of the current 27 could be out of office after the general election in April — that number is shocking!

Two former aldermen, Florida & Ortmann, are hoping to return to the board. Both previously lost a reelection bid to a challenger in a democratic primary. Again, city elections are now nonpartisan. Florida will face the same person in the primary and general, Ortmann is in a 3-way race that includes a current alderman so his immediate goal is to finish in the top two in the March 7th primary so he can try to win the April 4th general.

Voter information

I want to leave you with helpful resources to help make your decision and voting easier. I’m very curious if we’ll see any significant change in voter turnout. Analysis will be a challenge since we can’t compare the 14 new apples to apples, but we can see citywide as well as compare old vs new in the same part of town.

Okay, here are some resources for you:
St Louis Board of Elections: March 7th Primary
St. Louis Board of Elections: March 7 Candidate List
St Louis Board of Elections: April 4th General (includes relevant dates)
Find your ward, poling places, etc (includes locations for no excuse voter information held the two weeks prior to election day, as well as citywide voting locations where any registered voter can cast their ballot on election day.
Current 28 wards & aldermen (likely won’t be available after primary or general election).
City’s Redistricting FAQ page (includes link to proposition voters approved way back in 2012 to reduce the number of wards from 28 to 14).
– League of Women Voters/St. Louis (hopefully they’ll conduct some debates, at least the races with 4+ candidates).

— Steve
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St. Louis urban planning, policy, and politics @ UrbanReviewSTL since October 31, 2004. For additional content please consider following on Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, and/or X (Twitter).


 

Lewis Reed’s 25-Year Political Career (1997-2022)

June 8, 2022 Featured, History/Preservation, Politics/Policy Comments Off on Lewis Reed’s 25-Year Political Career (1997-2022)

Former 21st ward alderman John Collin-Muhammad resigned two weeks prior to a federal indictment against him and two others was unsealed. Jeffery Boyd resigned his long held seat as 22nd ward alderman the day after the indictment became public.

The third indicted was board president Lewis Reed, who resigned yesterday.

All three may avoid guilty verdicts in court, but politically they’re finished.

I never trusted Lewis Reed, I never could get a direct answer from him. He’d always just laugh and change the subject. Huge red flag in my book. Yuge!

Thankfully I can proudly say I’ve never voted for Lewis Reed. Not when he first ran for the citywide office in 2007, or re-election three times since. I never voted for him when he ran for Mayor.

Here’s a brief outline of Reed’s political career in St. Louis.

Reed was the campaign manager for 6th ward alderwoman Marit Clark’s 1997 independent run for mayor against Democratic nominee Clarance Harmon. Reed’s day job was as a computer network manager for a hospital group.

Harmon won the race but Reed got himself appointed to the St. Louis Port Authority, quickly becoming the chair. By 1999 Clark decided to retire from the Board of Aldernen, Reed was one of three candidates to become Alderman in the 6th ward. The other two were Patrick Cacchione and Brian Ireland.

Lewis Reed won his first election in St. Louis.

In the Spring of 2001 board president Francis Slay was elected mayor, alderman Jim Shrewsbury elected board president.

It was as 6th ward alderman that Reed came to my attention in 2006, over a planned police substation in the Tower Grove East neighborhood. It was known in the Fall of 2006 that Reed would be challenging board president Jim Shrewsbury in the Spring of 2007, causing people to begin planning to replace him on the board, representing the 6th ward.

From Reed’s 2007 campaign website running for board president. Saved on 3/6/2007 — knew it would eventually be useful.

Reed won his first citywide election in the March 2007 partisan primary by defeating 2-term president Shrewsbury, becoming president of the board the following month.

In March 2013 Reed ran for mayor for the first time, losing to incumbent Francis Slay. He remained president of the board since it was elected two years off from the mayoral race.

In Spring 2017 Reed again ran for mayor, but this time incumbent Slay wasn’t seeking a 4th term. The Democratic primary was packed with people wanting to become mayor. Others on the ballot included then 21st ward alderman Antonio French, Treasurer Tishaura Jones, 22nd ward alderman Jeffrey Boyd, and 28th ward alderwoman Lyda Krewson. Krewson became the city’s first female mayor. Every other candidate kept their existing elected sears that year, except Antonio French. John Collins-Muhammad was elected 21st ward alderman, succeeding French.

There’s a lot more detail I probably could’ve researched/included, but I think you get the overall picture of Reed’s 25 year political career in St. Louis.

— Steve Patterson

 

Thoughts on St. Louis’ First Non-Partisan General Election

April 8, 2021 Featured, Politics/Policy Comments Off on Thoughts on St. Louis’ First Non-Partisan General Election

Vintage photo of the former offices of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners. From my collection

In November we passed non-partisan “approval voting” for local elections. Last month the top two in multi-candidate races in the primary advanced to Tuesday’s general.

It appears to have worked well. Some races the candidate with the most votes in the primary went on to win the general, others the 2nd place primary candidate won the general.

There were two citywide races on Tuesday, only one competitive: mayor. Once again comptroller Green wasn’t challenged.

In the mayoral primary I voted for two of the four candidates — city treasurer Tishaura Jones and alderman Cara Spencer — the top two in the primary. Jones had come in 2nd place in the March 2017 partisan primary. Last month Jones came in 1st, Spencer 2nd. I was thrilled knowing one of my choices would become mayor.

The month between primary and general was intense. Many people took sides, getting into heated arguments. Campaigning turned negative, especially from Spencer or groups supporting her. It’s unclear to me if another strategy would’ve enabled Spencer to overcome Jones’ lead.

An example of a 2nd place primary finish to victory in the general is James Page in the 5th ward, my ward. In the primary a month ago Tammika Hubbard received more votes than challenger Page. I’d backed challengers to Tammika Hubbard in 2013 & 2017, only to see Hubbard win in the partisan primary. In 2017 the democratic primary had six candidates. Tuesday Page received 52.49% — the first time candidate came from behind to defeat the Hubbard political family.

Tammika Hubbard is the daughter of Rodney & Penny Hubbard. In 2016 Penny Hubbard lost her reelection bid for state rep. Their son Rodney Hubbard Jr. previously held that seat. Penny Hubbard is still 5th ward Democratic committeewoman, but Rodney Hubbard Sr. previously lost the committeeman seat to state rep Rasheen Aldridge.

Carr Square Village, built by the St. Louis Housing Authority in the 1950s, has been updated over the years

The Hubbard family is considered a political institution in the 5th ward, Carr Square. However, Rodney Hubbard Sr.’s political career began in the inner-ring suburb of Pagedale.

  • August 1973: he replaced someone else on the Pagedale zoning commission.
  • October 1973: he lost a special election to be Pagedale mayor, a 472-47 landslide.
  • February 1974: appointed Pagedale public relations director.
  • April 1975: sworn in as a Pagedale alderman.
  • September 1986: now acting resident manager at Carr Square Tenant Management Corp.

Rodney Hubbard Sr. wasn’t mentioned in the Post-Dispatch between April 1975 and September 1986. He was hired as a resident manager in the mid 1980s and hasn’t left. I wonder if the board is independent.

The last 28 aldermen are now set, in 2023 the number of wards will be cut in half.  Old political machines like the Hubbard’s will find it hard to cope with bigger wards in terms of voters and geographic size. In the next two years we’ll see the 28 aldermen jockeying for attention to help them potentially run against a fellow alderman.

— Steve Patterson

 

March 2nd Non-Partisan Ballot Is Set

January 12, 2021 Featured, Politics/Policy Comments Off on March 2nd Non-Partisan Ballot Is Set

Vintage photo of the former offices of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners at 208 South 12th Tucker) from February 1932 through December 1998. From my collection

Seven weeks from today, Tuesday March 2, 2021, St. Louis will hold its first non-partisan election for aldermen & mayor. Additionally, it’s the last election where half the aldermen means 14.

This year happens to be the odd-numbered wards up for election — to a special two-year term. A couple of even-numbered wards also have elections to fill an unexpired term. In two years the total number of aldermen will drop from 28 to 14, then 7 will get an initial 2-year term and 7 the usual 4-year terms. Once the census numbers are know  redistricting will begin.

Unlike past elections, the winners now must have more than 50% of the votes, so in a race with 3 or more candidates and nobody achieves the 50% threshold a runoff election will be held on April 6, 2021. Any runoff would be the top two candidates only. It’s unclear to me what would happen if two or more candidates tied for second place.

For decades partisan candidates paid a filing fee to the political party they were running for, usually Democrat. Independent candidates had to collect signatures to get on the general election ballot. Now every candidate is independent and must collect signatures to be included on the ballot. Some declared candidates are not on the ballot because their petitions didn’t contain enough signatures of registered voters.

Additionally this is the first time voters get to vote for more than one candidate in each race on their ballot.

Okay, let’s take a look at the races & candidates on the March 3rd ballot, here in reverse order:

WARD 27 — includes parts or all of: Walnut East & West, North Point, and Baden neighborhoods.

– Mary Ann Jackson is the only candidate. The incumbent is Pam Boyd.

WARD 25 — includes parts or all of: Carondelet, Dutchtown, and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods.

– Shane Cohn, the incumbent, is the only candidate. I ran for this seat 16 years ago, 4 years before Cohn won in 2009.

WARD 23 — includes parts or all of: Lindenwood Park, Ellendale, Clifton Heights, and North Hampton neighborhoods.

– Joseph A. Vaccaro, Jr., the incumbent, is the only candidate.

WARD 21 — includes parts or all of: Kingshighway East, Greater Ville, O’Fallon, Penrose, and College Hill neighborhoods. This ward has six (6) candidates and is the most likely to have a runoff election on April 6th.

– Laura Keys, current Democratic committeewoman
– Travon Brooks
– Melinda L. Long, a former alderwoman for this ward
– John Collin-Muhammad, current alderman
– Ticharwa Masimba
– Barbara Lane

WARD 19 — includes parts or all of: Shaw, Tiffany, The Gate District, Midtown, Vandeventer, and Covenant/Grand Center neighborhoods.

– Cleo Willis, Sr.
– Marlene E. Davis, incumbent

WARD 17 — includes parts or all of: Shaw, Botanical Heights, Tiffany, Midtown, Central West End, Forest Park Southeast, Kings Oak, and Cheltenham neighborhoods. Longtime alderman Joe Roddy announced last year he wouldn’t seek another term.

– Don De Vivo
– Tina Pihl
– Kaleena Menke
– Michelle Sherod

WARD 15 — includes parts or all of: Tower Grove South, Dutchtown, Gravois Park, Tower Grove East, and Benton Park West neighborhoods.

– Jennifer Florida, another former alderwoman running
– Alexander J. Gremp
– Megan Ellyia Green, incumbent

WARD 13 — includes parts or all of: Carondelet, Holly Hills, Boulevard Heights, Bevo Mill, Princeton Heights, Southampton, and Dutchtown neighborhoods.

– Anne Schweitzer
– Beth Murphy, incumbent

WARD 12 — includes part or all of: Boulevard Heights, Princeton Heights, St. Louis Hills. Larry Arnowitz resigned last year.

– Joe Rusch
– Bill Stephens
– Vicky Grass, incumbent from special election

WARD 11 — includes parts or all of: Carondelet, Patch, Holly Hills, Boulevard Heights, and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods.

– Sarah Wood Martin, incumbent

WARD 9 — includes parts or all of: Dutchtown, Mount Pleasant, Marine Villa, Gravois Park, Kosciusko, Soulard, Benton Park, Tower Grove East, and Benton Park West neighborhoods.

– Ken A. Ortmann, former alderman
– Dan Guenther, incumbent

WARD 7 — includes parts or all of: Kosciusko, Soulard, Benton Park, McKinley Heights, Fox Park, Compton Heights, Lafayete Park, Downtown, Downtown West, and Near North Riverfront neighborhoods.

– Shedrick (Nato Caliph) Kelley
– Jack Coatar, incumbent

WARD 5 — includes parts or all of: Downtown West, JeffVanderLou, St. Louis Place, Carr Square, Columbus Square, Old North St. Louis, Near North Riverfront, and Hyde Park neighborhoods.

– Tammika Hubbard, incumbent
– James Page

WARD 4 — includes parts or all of: Lewis Place, Kingshighway East, Greater Ville, The Ville, and Vandeventer neighborhoods. Sam Moore died in 2020, this election is for the remainder of the term.

– Edward McFowland
– Leroy Carter
– Dwinderlin (Dwin) Evans, incumbent from special election

WARD 3 — includes parts or all of: JeffVanderLou, St. Louis Place, Hyde Park, College Hill, Fairground, and O’Fallon neighborhoods.

– Brandon Bosley, incumbent
– Herdosia Kalambayi Bentum

WARD 1 — includes parts or all of: Wells/Goodfellow, Kingshighway East & West, Penrose, Mark Twain, and Walnut Park East neighborhoods.

– Loren Watt
– Sharon Tyus, incumbent
– Yolanda Brown

COMPTROLLER — citywide

– Longtime Comptroller Darlene Green is again unchallenged.

MAYOR — citywide. Mayor Lyda Krewson isn’t seeking a second term.

– Andrew Jones
– Tishaura O. Jones
– Cara Spencer
– Lewis Reed

So those who are unchallenged will be re-elected. The races with only two candidates will be decided on March 2nd. Races with 3 or more candidates might be decided on Election Day — if one gets at least 50% of the votes.

School board elections and any runoff races will be Tuesday April 6, 2021.

— Steve Patterson

 

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