13th Ward Profile, St. Louis City

St. Louis City’s 13th Ward includes parts of old 2nd, 22nd, 27th Wards, and other Wards, and is the result of Census Redistricting and Ward Reduction.

Previous Elections

Each ward is now double the population and geographically much larger. That’s an important consideration when looking at past election results.

13th Ward 2023 General Election: Pamela Boyd 984; Norma Walker 839
13th Ward 2023 Primary Election: Pamela Boyd 751; Norma Walker 506; former Alder Lisa Middlebrook 390
27th Ward 2021 General Election: Pamela Boyd 815; Chris Carter 664
27th Ward 2021 Primary Election: Pamela Boyd 603; Chris Carter 518; Mary Ann Jackson 161
27th Ward 2017 General Election: Pamela Boyd 1,280; Antree Spikener 117
27th Ward 2017 Primary Election: Pamela Boyd, 800; Keena Carter 635; Ciera Simril 228

2025 Election

Alder Pamela Boyd
Elected Alder: 2017, 2021, 2023
Previous Campaigns: 2013 ran for Alder
Incumbent Voting Records- Board Bills
Campaign Website
Residence: Walnut Park West
Residence Tax Abated: No
Occupation: Alder; was or is certified dietary manager at The Valley Stonebridge Community skilled nursing facility
Political Genealogy: mother of School Board President Toni Cousins; no relation to former Alder Jeffrey Boyd
Candidate MEC Committee
Treasurer: Brenda Montgomery, Ferguson, works at Normandy School District
January 2025 Report
$5,589.63 on hand; $0 debt
+ Raised $6,975: $2,600 21st Century St Louis PAC (Greater St. Louis); $2,600 Jerry Schlichter, attorney, Schlichter Bogard, Missouri State Historic Tax Credit advocate; $500 Spire PAC; $300 Iron Workers Local NO. 396 Voluntary Fund; $250 David C. Walters, president HY-C, owner Westwood Progress LLC owner, identified instead in report as Affinia Healthcare Board Member; $250 Protect Missouri Workers PAC
– Spent $7,011.60: $3,002 total Steve Engelhardt, fundraising, former communications director for Congressman Lacy Clay; $1,605.04 total Mark’s Quick Printing; $960.27 total RingCentral; $600.15 total Constant Contact
October 2024 Report
$5,625.73 on hand, $0 debt
+ Raised $500: $0 itemized
– Spent $2,047.78: $667.20 total RingCentral; $477 total Constant Contact
July 2024 Report
$7,173.45 on hand, $0 debt
+ Raised $7,000.06: $2,000 Jay R. Johnson, owner Greenworks Construction; $1,000 LIUNA Local 110; $1,000 Laborers’ Int Union Local 42 PAC Fund; $1,000 Clifford Franklin, owner FUSE advertising; $500 David Sweeney, attorney @ Lewis Rice, corporate welfare lobbyist; $300 Electrical Workers Voluntary Political Education & Legislative Funds – Missouri; $250 Jarrod Holst, attorney and owner 1904Group apartment developer; $250 David C. Walters, president HY-C, owner Westwood Progress LLC owner, identified instead in report as Affinia Healthcare Board Member; $250 St Louis City Legislative Club PAC.
– Spent $2,430.82: $1,253.47 total Constant Contact; $465 total Mark’s Quick Printing
April 2024 Report
$2,604.21 on hand, $0 debt
+ Raised $3,231.45: $2,600 South Side Property LLC (gas stations, Munji Abdeljabbar); $200 AFT Local 420
– Spent $2,731.45: $1,366.63 total Mark’s Quick Printing; $343.91 total Constant Contact
– Refunds: $500 Northway Market LLC (one of the Almuttan Brothers businesses)
January 2024 Report
$3,035.63 on hand; $0 debt
+ Raised $3,650: $1,000 Northway Market LLC (one of the Almuttan Brothers businesses); $250 Darryl A. Piggee, attorney @ Stone Leyton, former lobbyist for Rebuild St. Louis, Chief of Staff former Congressman Lacy Clay; $250 Paul T. Reid, Postal Workers Union; $250 Patricia Hofer, property manager; $200 Alder Laura Keys; $200 LeRoy Grant, lobbyist
– Spent $ 758.09: $465 Constant Contact
October 2023 Report
$143.69 on hand; $0 debt
+ Raised $1,200: $500 Associated General Contractors of Missouri; Nexus PAC (MAGA PAC that legally launders money for Rex Sinquefield and others, run by Matt McBride, Lashly Baer); $500 $200 Ryan Thomas LLC
– Spent $4,536.85: $1,200 total campaign worker Nona Thomson (address is a vacant lot in Spanish Lake); $900 Caring Plus, tickets
– Refunds $4,750: $2,600 South Side Property LLC (gas stations, Munji Abdeljabbar); $1,000 Eagle Foods LLC; $500 Ryan Thomas LLC; $500 R & A LLC; $150 Evergreen Resimercial Realty
July 2023 Report
$8,227.52 on hand; $0 debt (no report shows the $1,700 debt to herself being paid back or forgiven)
+ Raised $2.13 interest
– Spent $3,364.06: $1,372.91 Allmail USA Inc; $1,041.15 Mark’s Quick Printing; $600 campaign worker Nona Thomson (address is a vacant lot in Spanish Lake); $250 Constant Contact
Amended April 2023 #3 Report
$11,589.45 on hand; $1,700 debt to herself
+ Raised $8,175: $2,600 Leadership Counts; $2,000 Steve Stone, attorney @ Stone Leyton, Paul McKee’s attorney, Globe Building owner; $1,000 TheLouPAC; $1,000 total Brenda Montgomery, Normandy teacher, candidate’s MEC Treasurer; $500 former Alder Jack Coatar, attorney, now consultant in Florida; $500 Jeff Rainford, lobbyist for Bob Clark and others, Chief of Staff for former Mayor Francis Slay; $275 Rodney Hubbard (report says “retired,” not sure if this is lobbyist Rodney Hubbard Jr married to Alder Shameen Clark-Hubbard, address suggests that is the one, or Rodney Hubbard Sr. of Carr Square Tenant Organization ARPA money fame)
– Spent $7,716.18: $5,000 Media Magic; $2,250 George Poole, campaign worker
April 2023 Report #3
minus a few contributions and expenses, same as Amended April 2023 #3 Report
April 2023 Report #2
Limited Activity
April 2023 Report #1
$11,130.63 on hand; $1,700 debt to herself
+ Raised $2,900: $2,600 Laborers Int Union Local PAC Fund; $300 Sprinkler Fitters Political Education & Legislative Committee
– Spent $2,366.55: $1,415.90 Mark’s Quick Printing; $760 total George Poole, campaign work
March 2023 Report
$10,596.60 on hand; $1,700 debt to herself
+ Raised $15,400.43: $2,600 21st Century St. Louis PAC (Greater St. Louis); $2,600 LIUNA 42; $2,500 Jerry Schlichter, attorney, Schlichter Bogard, Missouri State Historic Tax Credit advocate; $1,000 Spire PAC; $1,000 IAFF 73; $500 Realtors PAC; $500 David Sweeney, corporate welfare and tax district attorney & lobbyist; $300 Operating Engineers 513
– Spent $12,273.06 spent: $2,150 total for George Poole, campaign work
February 2023 Report #2
$7,469.23 on hand; $1,700 debt to herself
+ Raised $7,950 raised: $2,600 21st Century STL (Greater St. Louis); $1,000 LIUNA Local 110; $1,000 LIUNA Local 42; $250 State Rep. Steve Butz; $250 former Mayor Vince Schoemehl
February 2023 Report #1
$2,644.11 on hand; $1,700 debt to herself
+ Raised $7,328.12: $2,600 MidAmerica Carpenters PAC; $1,700 loan from the candidate; $300 former State Rep. Josh Peters; $125 Glaziers Local 513 PAC
– Spent $7,883.85
January 2023 Report #2
$3,199.84 on hand; $0 debt
+ Raised $0
– Spent $765.19
January 2023 Report #1
$3,965.03 on hand; $0 debt
+ Raised $1,052.77: $500 Jeff Rainford, lobbyist for Bob Clark and others, Chief of Staff for former Mayor Francis Slay
– Spent $1,089.95
October 2022 Report
$4,002.21 on hand, $0 debt
+ Raised $2,956.04
– Spent $340
Contributions to Other Campaigns
2023- $100 State Rep Steve Butz; $50 former Sheriff Vernon Betts
2022- $100 Alder Laura Keys
2021- $200 former Board President Lewis Reed; $100 School Board member Toni Cousins (daughter)
2020- $100 former Alder Jeffrey Boyd; $100 accused rapist State Senator Steven Roberts

No 2025 Opponent

Political Party Information

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Democratic Ward Organizations

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Republican Ward Organizations

St. Louis City Alder Candidate Filing Ends Jan 3rd

Updated Thursday, 01/02/2025, with additional candidate filed in 11th Ward, the incumbent Alder.

Updated Monday, 12/30/2024, with additional candidate filed in 7th Ward.

Seven Alder seats in St. Louis City, the odd numbered wards, are up for election this Spring. Even numbered wards will be elected in 2027.

Filing began November 25th and ends January 3rd. Filing for Alder is done at St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners in Downtown.

The Primary Election is March 3rd and the General Election is April 8th. This will be the second election that Alders are elected by nonpartisan ballot with the top two Primary winners going on to General Election. In 2023, all 14 Alders were elected to two year or four year terms. This is the election for four year terms in 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th Wards.

Alder Salary is $72,000. That may seem like a full time job salary but in St. Louis City you can be elected an Alder and still own businesses, be a bank Vice President like 2nd Ward Alder Tom Oldenburg, be a landlord for apartments or Airbnbs.

Qualifications to run for Alder
√ Age: at least 25 years
√ City Resident: at least 3 years
√ Resident of Ward: at least 1 year
√ City Taxpayer: at least 2 years
√ U.S. Citizen: at least 5 years
√ Shall not have been convicted of malfeasance in office, bribery or other corrupt practice or crime

Requirements to file for Alder
√ Filing Fee: 1% of Salary (current salary is $72,000)
√ Nominating Petition
√ Tax Clearance: by Collector of Revenue for personal property, real estate, earnings taxes + water-trash bills
√ Compliance with all Campaign Finance Laws

Candidates Filed as of January 2nd

First Ward

Filed: Anne Schweitzer
Incumbent Voting Records- Board Bills
Campaign Website
Occupation: Alder; campaign consultant at Public Eye; 2018 consultant for election of State Rep. Steve Butz; owner of now dissolved nonprofit Rumble Cats Rescue
Residence: Boulevard Heights
Residence Tax Abated: No
Candidate MEC Committee
October 2024 Report: $26,017.63 on hand, no debts. Donors of Note: $750 Richard Callow, Public Eye owner; $500 City Collector of Revenue Gregg Daly; $500 State Rep. Steve Butz; $500 Fred Wessels, former State Rep and former Alder; $250 Matt Villa, Villa Lighting COO and former Alder; $100 Firefighters Local #73; $100 Sarah Martin, lobbyist and former Alder; $50 Jimmy Lappe, Mo AFL CIO program director and former Alder

Filed: Anthony M. “Tony” Kirchner
Campaign Website
Occupation: former Deputy Sheriff; former U.S. Navy
Residence: Bevo
Residence Tax Abated: No
Candidate MEC Committee
October 2024 Report: Limited Activity. Committee filed 09/13/2024.

Notes
1st Ward 2023 Primary Election: Anne Schweitzer 1,173; Tony Kirchner 1,088; Matt Kotraba 409
1st Ward 2023 General Election: Anne Schweitzer 1,614; Tony Kirchner 1,472
In that election, Kirchner was endorsed by former Sheriffs Vernon Betts and Jim Murphy, former Alder Jack Coatar, St. Louis Police Officers Association
13th Ward 2021 Primary Election: Anne Schweitzer 1318; Beth Murphy 744
13th Ward 2021 General Election: Anne Schweitzer 1497; Beth Murphy 885

Third Ward

Filed: Shane Cohn
Incumbent Voting Records- Board Bills
Campaign website (have not found one)
Occupation: Alder; owner of 4664 Tennessee LLC, investment and redevelopment of real estate
Residence: Dutchtown
Residence Tax Abated: No
Candidate MEC Committee
October 2024 Report: $14,505.14 on hand, no debt. Donors of Note: $2,600 South Side Property LLC; $500 IBEW; $500 Jon Chen, Urban Eats owner; $500 Associated General Contractors of Mo PAC; $250 Matthew McBride, corporate welfare attorney, serves on many economic development boards; $150 Sean Spencer, Tower Grove CDC executive director; $102 Richard Callow, Public Eye owner; $100 Scott Intagliata, Charter Commission secretary and Unico + other businesses owner. Same report was filed by mistake for 25th Ward Regular Democratic Club.
Candidate MEC PAC: STL Neighbors United for Progress PAC
October 2024 Report: Committee created 11/05/2024, no reports yet

Filed: Inez M. Bordeaux
Campaign website
Occupation: former Deputy Director of Community Collaborations, ArchCity Defenders; owner of Highfalutin LLC
Residence: Mount Pleasant
Residence Tax Abated: No
Candidate MEC Committee
October 2024 Report. Committee created 11/19/2024, no reports yet

Filed: Dallas Nicole Adams
Campaign website
Occupation: former Communications Manager for Metropolitan Parks & Recreation District (tax district dba Great Rivers Greenway, had a seat via job on Seed St. Louis Board, which moved to Delmar Divine)
Residence: Dutchtown
Residence Tax Abated: No
Candidate MEC Committee
October 2024 Report. Committee created 12/02/2024, no reports yet

Notes
3rd Ward 2023 Primary Election: Shane Cohn 410, no opponent
3rd Ward 2023 General Election: Shane Cohn 827, no opponent
25th Ward 2017 Primary Election: Shane Cohn 858, no opponent
25th Ward 2017 General Election: Shane Cohn 981, no opponent

5th Ward

Incumbent NOT Running: Joseph “Joe” Vollmer, has endorsed Matthew Devoti
Incumbent Voting Records- Board Bills
Campaign website
Occupation: owner of Milo’s Bocce Garden; co-owner TLJ Investments (funeral home); owner of TLSJ (commercial real estate); landlord
Residence: The Hill
Residence Tax Abated: No
Candidate MEC Committee
October 2024 Report. $3,105 on hand; no debt. No contributions received for period.

Filed: Matthew Devoti
Campaign website
Occupation: personal injury attorney; serves on 22nd Circuit Judicial Commission
Residence: The Hill
Residence Tax Abated: Yes
Candidate MEC Committee
October 2024 Report. $4,996.66; no debt. Donors of Note: $2,600 Jim Heine, retiree in Boerne TX; $1,000 Bonnie Devoti, candidate’s mother

Notes
5th Ward 2023 Primary Election: Joe Vollmer 1,533; Helen Petty 990
5th Ward 2023 General Election: Joe Vollmer 2,177; Helen Petty 1,580
10th Ward 2019 Primary Election: Joe Vollmer 968; Pat Hickey 623
10th Ward 2019 General Election: Joe Vollmer 700

7th Ward

Filed: Alisha Sonnier
Incumbent Voting Records- Board Bills
Campaign Website
Residence: Tower Grove East
Residence Tax Abated: No
Occupation: former mental health advocate at Cigna; campaign staffer, 2022 paid total of $1,975 as “Political Director” by Board President Megan Green’s candidate committee; also paid $1,000 on 04/04/2023 (general election day, the day Sonnier was elected Alder) for “Win bonus” by Board President Megan Green’s candidate committee
Other Politics: 2021-23 St. Louis City School Board, appointed by Mayor Tishaura Jones
Candidate MEC Committee
October 2024 Report. $2,601.44 on hand; no debt. Donors of Note: $500 Kelvin Adams, president of St. Louis Community Foundation and former Superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools; $250 Shilpa Patel, Hotel Avyan/real estate; $200 total Scott Intagliata, Charter Commission secretary and Unico + other businesses owner; $100 Richard Callow, Public Eye owner

Filed: Cedric L. Redmon Jr
Campaign Website
Residence: Benton Park West; his Linkedin account says he is in Florissant
Residence Tax Abated: No
Occupation: musician; 2020-2021 spy plane advocate, may have lobbied for pay without registering as lobbyist
Others Politics: 2023 candidate for Alder; 2019 candidate for 6th Ward Alder, one of two candidates
Candidate MEC Committee
October 2024 Report: No committee created yet

Notes
7th Ward 2023 Primary Election: Alisha Sonnier 1,108; J.P. Mitchom 731; Cedric Redmon 643
7th Ward 2023 General Election: Alisha Sonnier 1,470 ; J.P. Mitchom 933
6th Ward 2019 Primary Election: Christine Ingrassia 930; Cedric Redmon 412; Debra Carnahan 590; Henry Gray 179
6th Ward 2019 General Election: Christine Ingrassia 969; Michael Hebron 199

9th Ward

Filed: Michael Browning
Incumbent Voting Records- Board Bills
Campaign Website
Residence: Forest Park Southeast
Residence Tax Abated: No
Occupation: former senior grant specialist at Washington University School of Medicine (but still identified as employed by Washington University on some but not all donations he made in 2024); former vice president of Forest Park Southwest Neighborhood Association
Candidate MEC Committee
October 2024 Report. $2,601.44 on hand, no debt. Donors of Note: $500 Associated General Contractors of Mo PAC; $250 Sean Spencer, Tower Grove CDC executive director; $200 Tom Brackman, retired attorney, serves on Waterman Lake tax district; $180 Karen Presley Karabell, SF Shannon partner (vacation & long-term rentals); $100 Katharyn Davis, real estate attorney; $100 Richard Callow, Public Eye owner

Notes
9th Ward 2023 Primary Election: Michael Browning 1,007; former 17th Ward Alder Tina Pihl 876; former 28th Ward Alder Michael Gras 868 (election following redistricting with ward consolidation, from 28 wards to 14)
9th Ward 2023 General Election: Michael Browning 1,773; former 17th Ward Alder Tina Pihl 1,027

11th Ward

Filed: Laura Keys
Incumbent Voting Records- Board Bills
Campaign Website
Residence: O’Fallon
Residence Tax Abated: No
Occupation: Alder; landlord; owner Able Hands In-Home Health Services of Missouri LLC; owner Missouri DNA & Drug Testing Centers, LLC; owner Secure Identity Fingerprinting LLC; owner St. Louis Fingerprints LLC; owner Residential Maid Service LLC
Candidate MEC Committee:
December 2024 Report: $1,381.97 on hand, no debt. $621.13 total in reimbursements to James Keyes, husband
October 2024 Report: $3,729.50 on hand, no debt. Donor of Note: $2,000 from Ring the Bell PAC (PAC not filed with MEC) @ Crown Mart, 4501 Union

Filed: Melinda L. Long
Campaign Website (have not found one)
Residence: O’Fallon
Residence Tax Abated: No
Occupation: former Alder 2001-2002; insurance agent; owner United Health, Accident & Life (UHAL) LLC Ins. Agency; The O’Fallon Block Link LLC; administratively dissolved Fellowship Foundation Organization
Candidate MEC Committee
October 2024 Report: No committee created yet

Filed: Rebecca I. McLoud
Campaign Website (have not found one)
Residence: O’Fallon
Residence Tax Abated: No
Occupation: insurance agent; former Board Secretary, O’Fallon Community Developing Organization
Candidate MEC Committee
October 2024 Report: No committee created yet

Notes
11th Ward 2023 Primary Election: Laura Keys 568; Carla Wright 312
11th Ward 2023 General Election: Laura Keys 782; Carla Wright 335
21st Ward 2017 Primary Election: John Collins-Muhammad 812; Laura Keys 783; Marlene Buckley 227
21st Ward 2017 General Election: John Collins-Muhammad 1406; Marty Spikener 107

13th Ward

Filed: Pamela Boyd
Incumbent Voting Records- Board Bills
Campaign Website
Residence: Walnut Park West
Residence Tax Abated: No
Occupation: Alder; was or is certified dietary manager at The Valley Stonebridge Community skilled nursing facility
Candidate MEC Committee:
October 2024 Report. $5,625.73 on hand; no debt. No itemized donors this period.

Notes
13th Ward 2023 Primary Election: Pamela Boyd 751; Norma Walker 506; former Alder Lisa Middlebrook 390
13th Ward 2023 General Election: Pamela Boyd 984; Norma Walker 839
27th Ward 2017 Primary Election: Pam Boyd, 800; Keena Carter 635; Ciera Simril 228
27th Ward 2017 General Election: Pam Boyd 1280; Antree Spikener 117

Delmar’s Corporate Welfare for Rich People

There are a lot of great things happening in St. Louis City and I credit hard work by many people, including activists and Mayor Tishaura Jones. Unfortunately, there is also the ongoing epidemic of corporate welfare, which started forty years ago and is now fecklessly rubber stamped by Alders, and pretty much the City caving to the public school privatization movement.

Among the awful things that happens in St. Louis is making public school kids pay for rich white people’s projects. Today, I’m writing projects on Delmar: Maxine Clark’s Delmar Divine, a home for privatization nonprofits, and billionaire Jim McKelvey’s Delmar Makers Place.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Some really nice places owned by good people and good organizations are also now on Delmar because of Clark and McKelvey. That’s what rich people do. They drape themselves with good to ward off criticism. If these rich people were good themselves, they would pay for these projects on their own instead of burdening taxpayers and public school kids.

Maxine Clark is the welfare queen of Build A Bear. We used #WelfareBears on Twitter back in the day.

Clark has a net worth of $22.1 Million and makes $1,370,260 a year as a director on the board of Build A Bear. The City gave the company 50% of its earning’s/payroll/income taxes and 75% tax abatement (money taken from public school kids) to move fourteen miles from St. Louis County to Downtown St. Louis.

Millionaire privatization activist Rex Sinquefield’s Dimensional Fund Advisers owned 6.4% of Build A Bear stock at the time.

Alder Cara Spencer took a walk on that vote and then Alder now Board President Megan Green voted Yes. Voting No were Alder Shane Cohn and former Alders Heather Navarro and Dan Guenther.

A 200 jobs figure was tossed around by everyone during the process but the TIF agreement only required maintaining the 170 jobs. Information was highly problematic during the process and generally a #TransparencyFail, as we called it on Twitter.

Meanwhile, as public school kids pay for the Build A Bear move, Clark spends her retirement as godmother of public school privatization in St. Louis. Reminder: charter schools are private schools funded by tax dollars meant for public schools.

Clark’s Delmar Devine is a nonprofit campus that focuses on all sorts of privatization schemes and got all sorts of corporate welfare, including tax abatement, of course. It is home to:

Opportunity Trust, hell bent on using public dollars to open charter schools

WePower (an arm of Opportunity Trust), which wants more public money to expand child care at charter schools, not being content with a sales tax grift ridiculously adopted by voters to fund training and marketing of child care at charter schools but not public schools

United 4 Children, part of the early childhood education grift which doesn’t actually fund child care but rather funds training, marketing, information

KIPP charter schools

Clark-Fox Family Foundation, supporting various anti-public school and anti-union teacher efforts and I believe working on the funding child care at charter schools initiative

Teach For America, the anti-union, anti-teachers as a degreed profession group

All of them have well paid staff and public relations budgets that most of the small noprofits the rest of us are associated with will never see. It’s really stretching the definition to use “charity” on some of them. They are nonprofit arms of political agendas.

Then there’s Delmar’s Jim McKelvey, of Square fame. He could well afford to do anythign he has in St. Louis without making public school kids pay for it.

I meant to write a lot more on all this but I need to run. Just search McKelvey’s name for the millions and millions in tax abatement and other incentives he has benefitted from.

Charter Amendments. Sigh.

Old black and white photo of St. Louis City Hall

The St. Louis City Board of Alders Legislation and Rules Committee set aside two hours of their 28 day summer vacation to hold in-person plus virtual option hearings on Board Bills to send voters seven Charter Amendments.

The meeting is set for 2 pm Today, Tuesday, July 23rd. The time allotted would appear to be seventeen minutes each Charter Amendment for presentation by Alder sponsor and then pro-con testimony. Absurd. I can see why people would just ignore it.

I have not reviewed all of these Board Bills thoroughly yet but here are some of my notes on these proposed Charter Amendments.

City Counselor Appointment and Removal– Board Bill 60 by Alder Bret Narayan. Changes City Counselor appointment from mayoral appointment to mayoral appointment with consent of Board of Alders. Allows Board of Alders to remove City Counselor for cause with a 2/3 vote.

I do not have strong feelings about this proposal at this time. Doubt Board of Alders will ever have 2/3 vote to do much of anything other than approve corporate welfare. The Charter Commission or Alders should have looked at the whole issue of City Counselor working for Mayor but providing legal counsel to all departments and offices, including other elected offices, and in charge of compliance with State and City Sunshine Laws (cough cough).

Create Transportation Department– Board Bill 61 by Alder Michael Browning. Changes Streets Department to Transportation Department and moves Excise Division (Liquor Licenses) from Public Safety Department to new Transportation Department. Removes engineer qualification for Director of Streets, new Transportation Department.

I oppose this ballot issue because I believe all department heads should have qualifications other than “knows the mayor” and I believe Transportation Director should be an engineer. The removal of engineer qualification looks suspiciously like an effort to help one person move up the ladder. I think the part about removing engineer qualification should be in the ballot language and it’s not.

Creating Office of Public Advocacy– Board Bill 71 by Alder Daniela Velazquez. This whole thing is a hot mess and I will write at length about it later. Well intentioned. Good idea. Poor execution.

Changes Who Decides Hikes in Fines/Fees– Board Bill 72 by Alder Daniela Velazquez. Allows fines and fees to be set by Board of Alders instead of citywide ballot vote. Hard NO.

Changes Election Date and Screws Public Schools– Board Bill 75 by Alder Shane Cohn, Alder Daniela Velazquez, Board President Megan Green. This Charter Amendment would move municipal elections from March and April to August and November. This would leave School Board elections to low turnout and allow groups and persons such as Rex Sinquefield to run the table in electing school privatization slates. Voters defeated this proposal in 2017.

There is a lot more to Board Bill 75 and it’s mostly all bad. Will have more to blog on this later.

Changes name of Board of Alders to City Council– Board Bill 76 by Alder Shane Cohn, Alder Daniela Velazquez, Board President Megan Green. This amendment does a lot of things that would be good- changing pronouns to titles for example. But changing the name of the Board to Council will just lead to confusion and should have been left out. I will write more on this later.

Gives Board of Alders Power to Reorganize City Departments Without Public Vote on Charter Amendments – Board Bill 77 by Alder Alisha Sonnier. Hard NO. Fix the Charter. Board of Alders does not deserve more power to do things poorly.

MAGA v. Extra Super MAGA in SWMo

Now that Former Guy has picked his running mate, you’ll be seeing even more Missouri Republican candidates promoting their Christian Nationalist (gift article) credentials.

In the 128th District, Polk and southern Hickory Counties, cattle country, home and birthplace to Governor Mike Parson, one Republican got a head start as a Christian Nationalist candidate. Derral Reynolds has campaign yard signs and a YouTube commercial using the Christian symbol of a cross. The commercial also misspells foreign.

The Bolivar retiree wants voters to “Invest in the future of you and your family’s security by sending strong Christian Conservative values to Jefferson City… Take Missouri Back for us” per his campaign website. “Take Back America” is a popular theme for the Former Guy campaign. MAGA Republicans run Missouri, hold every statewide office, have a majority in both chambers of Legislature. For Missouri Republicans, this election season is a battle between MAGA and Extra Super MAGA.

The scariest statement on Reynold’s website: “It is time for the good Christian people of this country to step up and set things right. We need America to be “One Nation Under God” again.”

Per Press Release, Reynolds campaign talks about “illegal immigration” and “school choice.” “Illegal immigration – it affects your wallet, costing Missourians over $446 million last year. They bring drugs, sex trafficking and crime into our cities, violence and gangs to our schools.” “School choice will hold public schools accountable. Derral wants to move public money to pay for your kid’s private school. There are many problems in our schools he will address.”

Reynolds has loaned himself a total of $7,842.23 so far and not reported any monetary contributions. He and his family appear to be running his campaign. He’ll come in third is my guess.

The four-man GOP primary for 128th District comes down to the Battle of Mayors.

Chris Warwick, current Bolivar Mayor and electrical biz owner, has the usual MAGA agenda: “Upholding the Constitution, Supporting Family Farms & Businesses, Increasing Parents’ Rights in Education, Advancing the Pro-Life Cause, Promoting Local Control.” Local control is a bit of a joke when it comes to Missouri GOP. No MAGA Republican wants St. Louis and Kansas City to have local control.

Warwick raised $6,279.70, mostly local contributions, since converting his mayoral committee to Missouri House race. Pro-charter schools Quality Schools Coalition donated $2000 to his campaign.

Per Press Release, Warwick hired Jeff Roe’s Axiom Strategies. His campaign finance reports do not show any money paid to them to date.

The leading candidate is probably Dr. John Best, cardiologist, former Bolivar mayor. He loaned his campaign $50,000, donated another $5,225, has $42,464.21 on hand.

Best does not have a campaign website. He has a Facebook page but I don’t use Facebook and don’t encourage others to use it either. This press release provides no insight on where he stands on issues.

Best did a mailing to Hickory County voters for a meet and greet event last month at Pomme de Ritas, a bar with food at Pomme de Terre Lake. His campaign finance report lists an expense of $448.38 to Pomme de Ritas for “advertising.” A MAGA neighbor attended as was impressed by Best’s opposition to “illegal immigrants.”

In 2017 and 2018 (paywall) Best was the subject of sexual harassment complaints.

Victory Enterprises is running Best’s campaign. Protect the Harvest is another of their clients. That’s one of millionaire (half a billion) Forrest Lucas‘s pet projects. Lucas is the largest landowner in Hickory County, home to Lucas Cattle Company. He was under consideration for Interior Secretary during Former Guy’s term and responsible for two pardons by Former Guy in 2018. His wife said the quiet part out loud about minority populations in 2014.

Bill Yarberry, a Fair Play cattleman, is a perennial candidate for state representative and state senator who has loaned his campaign $3,300 and not received any contributions. He came in third place in 2022 in a three candidate GOP primary for Senate 28th District in which incumbent State Senator Sandy Crawford, the only Republican Senator with a primary challenger, held the seat with 63.7%. I don’t see a website for him but here’s a candidate bio from his 2016 campaign.

Yes. There’s a Democrat- Rich Horton, Brighton. He was Democratic Party nominee for 128th District in 2018 and 2022. He sold his electric service shop in Springfield last year. Horton donated $500 to his campaign and has $209.73 on hand. He has no website.

STL City Budget Hearing Fail, Public Denied Opportunity to Speak

The Budget Committee of the Board of Alders (BOA) had a public hearing today, June 5th, 2024, on the 2025 Budget for the City of St. Louis. The hearing, per its City Calendar Notice, was to include public testimony both in person at City Hall and by Zoom. At least two Alders participated by Zoom.

6th Ward resident and local government transparency advocate Gerry Connolly planned to testify by Zoom. He confirmed his participation with BOA staff. He wrote his notes. He logged on to the hearing.

The hearing began with Mayor Tishaura Jones presenting on her office’s budget. Then it was time for public testimony. But Budget Chair Cara Spencer announced a recess. People who had taken time off from work to make their voice heard were told they would have to wait 39 minutes.

When the Budget Committee reconvened, Alders heard in person public testimony. Then it was time for testimony by Zoom. It was Gerry’s turn. I’m not sure how many others had planned to testify via Zoom.

But Gerry was not allowed to speak. No Zoom testimony was taken. No explanation was given. It was yet another Sunshine Fail, Transparency Fail at City Hall.

Gerry was told he could submit comments by email. He was angry, and rightfully so, but he hurridly transformed his notes for three minutes of testimony into written, expanded comments.

Since Gerry’s testimony is not available as a part of the online public record, and while the Budget Committee Chair may not be interested in what he has to say, others may be interested. I asked him if I could publish his testimony on my blog and he agreed. I have made a few edits for formatting purposes and add links.

Below is Gerry’s testimony on 2025 Budget for City of St. Louis which he submitted by email.

———-

Gerry Connolly.
6th Ward resident
38xx Botanical Ave
St. Louis, MO 63110

June 5, 2024

Honorable members of the Budget and Public Employees Committee,

I had planned to provide this testimony via Zoom at today’s Budget Committee meeting. However, due to the fact the committee failed to take any public testimony today via Zoom, I am submitting my comments in writing.

Public Testimony in opposition to Board Bill 1

I am testifying against Board Bill 1. The City should allocate financial resources from within the budget as recommended by the Board of E and A necessary to implement the policy recommendations described in items 1 through 7 below.

1) Fix the City’s “Sunshine portal, The Public Records Center, which hasn’t been consistently functional for 6 months. Make the responsive records of all city government bodies available in the Public Records Archive. The St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) and St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) currently do not make records available to the general public in the Public Records Archive. Only requesters may view responsive records via their portal user accounts.There may be additional City entities that do not make records available to the general public.
2) Open government and transparency must be consistent across city government. The Board of Aldermen (BOA) must update the decade old transparency ordinance:
1. Post meeting recordings to Youtube for government entities currently missing. These include the Airport Commission, Affordable Housing Commission, Mental Health Board and Senior Fund.
2. Standardization of meeting notices, both physical and online. The official agenda (not just the text) must include the resolutions to be voted upon. The meeting packet must include the draft minutes of prior meetings, if applicable. All other documents utilized during a meeting should be posted online. The BOA’s posting of many budget presentations on the BB 1 webpage should serve as a model for all departments.
3. The following city bodies do not operate consistently in a transparent manner: Board of Estimate and Apportionment (E and A); Charter Commission, Reparations Commission and Detention Facilities Oversight Board. The persistent violation of Missouri Sunshine Law by the Board of E and A is cause for alarm. The Board of Aldermen’s silence on the Sunshine violations by the Board of E and A has been noted.
3) Continue to reform of how development incentives are awarded. Ordinance 71620 was a step forward in the system for awarding tax breaks to development projects. However Ordinance 71620 (BB 64 in the 2022-23 BOA session) had major flaws that subsequent legislation has only addressed in part (See BB 98 and BB 236 in the 2023-24 BOA session). More changes to the ordinance are needed. All provisions in Ordinance 71620 must be enforced by the BOA. SLDC did not follow the mandated procedures for the 15 projects, with development costs over $10 Million, that were approved in the 2023-24 BOA session. The non-compliance included a failure to consult St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) and affected tax districts. Every effort must be made to shield SLPS from the impact of tax breaks.
4) All development incentives must be authorized by an ordinance approved by the BOA. Incentives that presently do not require approval by ordinance include, but are not limited to:

1. Bond issuances authorized by the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (LCRA), Planned Industrial Expansion Authority (PIEA), Industrial Development Authority (IDA) and Port Authority.

2. Certain tax abatements authorized by the Port Authority Commission (PA) and Enhanced Enterprise Zone Board (EEZB).

3. New Markets Tax Credit (NTMC) program, currently authorized by the SLDC board of directors.
5) The Land Reutilization Authority’s lot sales policy must be modified. In 2023, the Land Reutilization Authority adopted new sales policies for LRA-owned property, per the recommendation of SLDC staff. In the category of sale of lots for the purpose of building one home, a lot whose area is less than 4,000 sq. ft. is ineligible for sale under the new policy. LRA eliminated the opportunity to provide housing, strengthen the fabric of a neighborhood and grow the city’s tax base.

The LRA sales policy must be modified in order to restore the ability of homebuilders to purchase lots under 4,000 sq. ft. and construct much-needed housing.

The Jones administration, SLDC and the Community Development Agency (CDA) frequently cite the Economic Justice Action Plan (EJAP) as a guide for City policy and program spending. SLDC included citations from the Economic Justice Action Plan (EJAP) in the LRA board resolution adopting the new sales policies.

It is noteworthy that the EJAP planning process, conducted by consultants to SLDC, did not include the participation of the general public or Board of Aldermen. Only narrowly focussed public outreach was performed.

I have not heard an explanation of the rationale behind the new sales policy in any setting- SLDC website, development board meetings or at BOA committee meetings. The BOA should investigate this matter.
6) All fee revenues from SLDC’s Sales Tax Exemption Fund should be transferred to the City’s General Fund and included in the annual appropriation to the Affordable Housing Commission
7) Eight reforms for the BOA to enact for Local Taxing Districts (LTDs). It is possible that changes to Missouri law will be necessary in order to accomplish some of the recommendations.

1. The budgets of the 100 plus LTDs in the City likely exceed $50 Million with taxes and/or special assessments imposed on the public. The vast majority of LTDs operate routinely in violation of Missouri Sunshine law. Enact all recommendations of the 2019 Missouri Auditor’s report on LTDs. Read the audit report here (See pages 9 – 18 for recommendations)

2. Place all policing duties funded by LTDs under the command of SLMPD.

3. Extend community oversight of surveillance technology to all LTDs.

4. A representative of the following must be appointed to the board of all single site LTDs: Mayor, Board of Aldermen and Comptroller.

5. Prohibit developers from controlling single site districts.

6. Document all City of St. Louis resources allocated to the LTDs. Such resources include:

(i) City funds expended on projects of the LTDs.
(ii) City staff attending LTD meetings.
(iii) Work performed by City staff to support the activities of LTDs. (Examples of City staff: SLMPD personnel when working for the City; Neighborhood Improvement Specialists).

7. Establish robust Conflicts of Interest regulations for people serving on the boards and committees of LTDs.

8. Establish a limit on the number of LTD boards on which one person can serve. (Some individuals serve at least five LTD boards).

I would be happy to discuss the above recommendations by phone, in-person or at a committee meeting. My contact information is below.

Thank you for your consideration.

Gerry Connolly

cc Honorable members of the Board of Aldermen
President Megan Green
Clerk Terry Kennedy
Mayor Tishaura O. Jones
Comptroller Darlene Green
Budget Director Paul Payne

STL City Charter Commission, May ’24 Draft Doc

Below is the St. Louis City Charter (Reform) Commission‘s latest hard on the eyes, semi-public document on proposed changes to Charter.

I am publishing it here because the Charter Commission may never post it to their online documents page or may not post until right before, during, or even after their next meeting, a Virtual meeting set for 4:30 pm Wednesday, May 29th.

The Charter Commission has failed to be transparent at the level needed for Charter reform. It posts meeting materials long after meetings, sits on Minutes until City Counselor edits, the Minutes often are at odds with what actually happened, there are no Minutes for the three Workgroups’ meetings, meetings have gone into Closed Session for sketchy reasons, and other issues.

I personally like a number of people involved with the Commission. They are well-meaning but it’s a rigged process, a hot mess. The spreadsheet may give you an idea of the agenda, which must go before voters to be adopted but the devil is in the details. In this case, the details will be written by City Counselor Sheena Hamilton, who works for Mayor Tishaura Jones.

The Commission is composed of voting members and nonvoting members. Voting: Briana Bobo, Anna Crosslin, David Dwight IV, Chris Grant, Scott Intagliata, Dr. Jazzmine Nolan-Echols, Travis Sheridan. Non-Voting: Director of Personnel Sonja Gray (Mayor Jones appointee), City Counselor Sheena Hamilton, former State Senator Jake Hummel (Missouri AFL-CIO President)Christine Ingrassia (Board President Megan Green’s Director of Operations), Casey Millburg (Mayor Jones’ Policy Director), 5th Ward Alder Joe Vollmer.

I am chopping up the spreadsheet and adding pape by page as images, instead of importing the word salad, hard on the eyes spreadsheet, because I am not paying to upgrade this site for spreadsheets and videos.

Note1: Many people confuse the Charter with the City Code: Ordinances, Laws. The Charter is the City’s constitution. The Code is City’s version of Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo).

Note2: St. Louis City has a Strong Mayor system of government. Many people are confused about this because of propaganda by past charter reform efforts. Could the position be made stronger? Sure. A Weak Mayor system is usually associated with City Managers and ribbon cutting mayors. St. Louis City has had many weak mayors but that’s not the same as a Weak Mayor system.

Mo Dem Party Blows Off 27 Rural Counties

Missouri Democratic Party Map of Election Polling Places

The Missouri Democratic Party’s party-only funded and managed Presidential Preference Primary took an odd turn recently when the Party posted its March 23rd Election Polling Places to their website. There’s a map of locations and an alphabetical list with addresses, oddly broken into four sets.

Missouri has 115 counties: 114 regular counties plus St. Louis City, a city and its own county.

Votes may be cast in person at a polling place in the voter's county of residence from 8:00a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on the date of the primary. Each county will have a polling place and the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas will have multiple polling places.

Per State Party’s Delegate Selection Plan, each county will have at least one polling place. It turns out, however, that MDP failed to secure polling places for 27 counties with small populations in rural Missouri. These include:

Audrain
Atchison
Bates
Bollinger
Caldwell
Chariton
Clark
DeKalb
Harrison
Henry
Hickory
Holt
Knox
Lewis
Mercer
Mississippi
Monroe
New Madrid
Nodaway
Ozark
Pemiscot
Putnam
Ralls
Randolph
Reynolds
Schuyler
Scotland
Stone
Sullivan

MDP hired Merriman River Group to run the election but I don’t know who is to blame here given the dumpster fire that State Party has been for a very, very, very long time.

Is it possible that Missouri Democrats are still working on finding polling places. Sure. They have to be accessible, smoke free, available that Saturday morning, and probably have reliable internet/cell signal, a hard thing to find in small population rural counties in Missouri.

But that’s not what is going in here. According to Missourinet, “Most Missouri counties will have one polling place each, though some rural counties won’t have any in-person voting places.”

The only option for voters in 27 Missouri counties to vote in the Missouri Democratic Party Presidential Preference Primary is a) drive to the nearest county that has a polling place or b) vote by mail-in ballot. Deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Tuesday, March 12th.

I don’t know about the other counties, but there’s been no notice about this party-managed election in the weekly paper in Hickory County, The Index.

Someone paid for an ad in Thye Index, without “Paid for by,” for the Republican Caucus a couple of weeks before the March 2nd event. It was buried with legal notices for small town RFPs. People are still griping about not knowing about the Caucus and blaming it on unnamed RINO’s and, of course, Democrats. Imagine a facepalm emoji here.

This was a bad idea from the start. Democrats could have gone with a Caucus system. But Rusty Carnahan et al at MDP wanted Ranked Choice dark money to pay for the election but Democratic National Committee said no. See previous blog post on how this all started.

Blowing off 27 counties is just the latest in Missouri Democrats not getting it.

Please Vote for the re-election of President Joe Biden on November 5th (or earlier if you have the opportunity) and get your friends and family to vote… for democracy’s sake.

Is There a Missouri Prez Primary Election?

Photo from White House website of U.S. President Joe Biden

There is no 2024 Presidential Preference Primary Election paid for by, regulated by, or conducted by the State of Missouri and county election authorities.

The answer to whether there is a Presidential Preference Primary Election is more complicated. The answer: Yes, sorta, Maybe, and No.

If you are only looking for MDP Presidential Preference Primary Timeline, go to the end.

In 2022, the Republican super majority of the Missouri General Assembly passed, and Republican Governor Mike Parson signed into law, House Bill 1878 as amended, a seven page bill which grew to 82 pages. Among the many, many, many provisions, this election-related measure repealed State-run, State paid for Presidential Preference Primaries. They have been replaced with a series of political party caucuses (Delegate Selection), to be funded by the parties, to nominate a candidate for President before the national conventions and send delegates to the conventions.

For Republicans, Missouri is a caucus-only state. The placeholder webpage (or finally updated, depending on when you read this) for March 3rd Missouri GOP Presidential Caucuses is here.

Missouri Democrats are also having caucuses but also sorta having a Presidential Preference Primary Election.

If you go to the Missouri Democratic Party (MDP) website, and I’m not suggesting you should because it will hurt your head, nothing will jump out at you about a Presidential Preference Primary. Wander around long enough on the site and you MAY find the MDP Delegate Selection Plan dated October 31, 2023. It’s a 72 page pdf of legalese written for party insiders, not voters.

That Delegate Selection Plan is the MDP Caucus Plan with a side of Sorta Presidential Primary Election to be held on March 23rd. The Plan calls for Mail-In Voting run by MDP and MAY include an In-Person Election run by MDP and County Central Committees. As a former St. Louis City Democratic Committeewoman, I hear your collective moans and “great, just great” about City Dems running an election.

The MDP Presidential Preference Primary is open to all registered voters whose “registration reflects Democrat or Unaffiliated status,” per the MDP Plan.

Screenshot of October 31, 2023 letter from Missouri Democratic Party to Democratic National Committee regarding DNC's rejection of MDP's plan to conduct their Presidential Preference Primary with Ranked-Choice Voting

Per the MDP Plan, their election will be conducted by a contractor. December 31st was their fundraising deadline for $175,000 for the Party-run election. I don’t know if that was met. Without raising that money, the MDP reserved the right to cancel the In-Person Voting and just have Vote-By-Mail. They have put out no information on the election, so it’s reasonable to assume they may not have raised the money.

If the MDP did not reach the fundraising goal and have to cancel the In-Person Election, MDP Chair Rusty Carnahan is ready to blame the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The MDP wanted Ranked-Choice Voting for the Party-run election, which the DNC rejected. It appears that Carnahan was planning on raising money for the election from pro-Ranked-Choice sources. See October 31, 2023 letter from Carnahan.

Per The Plan, the MDP will send a mailer to registered Democrats by February 1st with information on how to vote in their Party-run Primary. You will not get the mailer, however, if you have not changed your voter registration to signify you are a Democrat (a very new thing in Missouri), OR did add party affiliation but it’s not showing on Secretary of State Jay “I Will Kick Biden Off The November Ballot” Ashcroft’s statewide database as of January 22, 2024. You may still vote in the election, you just won’t get the mailer.

Also, per The Plan, the MDP will work with the contractor to provide a Vote-By-Mail package that includes: “a copy-proof ballot, a ballot envelope, a return envelope, and an outer mail envelope complete with return postage indicia. Materials will be coded with voter-specific identifiers.” You will have to contact MDP to get the packet. Please do not call your County Clerk or Election Board for information or complaints. They have nothing to do with this election.

If the MDP Presidential Preference Primary In-Person Election is held, each Missouri County will have one polling place, except “St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas will have multiple polling places.” It’s a crappy plan. 61 of 115 Counties in Missouri have smaller populations than the smallest ward in St. Louis City and people in rural counties may have to drive a very long way to their polling place.

Also

St. Louis City 6th Ward Alder Daniela Velazquez and St. Louis County Meramec Township Democratic Committeeman Brian Wingbermuehle serve on MDP’s Delegate Selection and Affirmative Action Committee.

Links to Political Parties in St. Louis City recognized by State of Missouri
Democratic Central Committee (not a secure site)
Republican Central Committee
Libertarian Party

News articles about Missouri Democrats Presidential Primary. I have found very few and not posting the press release from SOS Ashcroft some are using as news.

September 20, 2023. St. Louis Public Radio. Missouri GOP and Democrats to take different paths in selecting presidential delegates

September 7, 2023. Missouri Independent. Mail-in ballots, ranked-choice voting part of Missouri Democrat plan for presidential primary. Party Chairman Russ Carnahan says cash-poor party has donors ready to underwrite heavy cost of holding election with polling sites in every county

August 31, 2023. Spectrum News. ‘Lemonade out of lemons’: Political parties scramble on new rules for 2024 presidential race in Missouri

August 30, 2023. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Missouri Democrats to allow 17-year-olds to vote in party-run presidential primary

MDP Presidential Primary Timeline

Sunday, December 31, 2023: MDP Fundraising deadline for $175,000 in election administration funds

Tuesday, January 2, 2023: Presidential candidate filing opens with MDP

Monday, January 22, 2024: Presidential candidate deadline for certifying the name(s) of their authorized representative(s) to MDP, filling a statement of candidacy, submitting an affirmative action plan, and paying the necessary filing fee

Monday, January 22, 2024: MDP pulls Voter List from Missouri Secretary of State for all registered Democrats in Missouri

Thursday, February 1, 2024: MDP mails Voter List of registered Democrats with instructions on how to participate in the Presidential Preference Primary. Advertising campaign begins.

Monday, February 12, 2024: MDP begins Mail-In Ballot distribution

February 21*, 2024: Deadline to Register to Vote in MDP Presidential Preference Primary. If you are registered to vote but have not declared party affiliation yet, you will still be allowed to vote in this Party-run election. Open to voters who are Democrats or Unaffiliated. That’s the date in MDP Delegate Selection Plan. Springfield News-Leader says February 26th.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024: Deadline to request Mail-In Ballot from MDP

8 am to Noon Saturday, March 23, 2024: MDP Presidential Preference Primary In-Person Election (if held)

10 am Saturday, March 23, 2024: Deadline for MDP to receive your Mail-In Ballot

Monday, March 25, 2024: Deadline for MDP Primary results to be announced

10 Weeks Until Filing Day

Candidate filing begins February 27th in Missouri for the August 6th Primary Election for county offices, General Assembly, Statewide offices, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and political party committeepeople. Filing ends March 26th.
Candidate Filing Information
Candidate Qualifications

Candidates for county office in City of St. Louis file with St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners in Downtown.

Candidates for Missouri legislative office file with the Missouri Secretary of State in Jefferson City

In the City of St. Louis, the following County and State Legislative offices will be elected in 2024. See Missouri & St. Louis City Age & Residency Requirements

Circuit Attorney (four year term, no Term Limit): Gabe Gore, appointed in May 2023 by Governor Mike Parson to fill vacancy of Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner who resigned
Sheriff (four year term, no Term Limit): Vernon Betts– elected 2016, 2020
Treasurer (four year term, no Term Limit): Adam Layne- appointed April 2021 by Mayor Tishaura Jones to fill out her term as Treasurer after her election as Mayor

Missouri Senate (Term Limit of two four-year terms)
5th District: accused rapist Steven Roberts Jr.- elected 2020
Missouri House of Representatives (Term Limit of four two-year terms)
66th District, mostly St. Louis County: Marlene Terry- elected 2020, 2022
76th District: Marlon Anderson- elected 2020, 2022
77th District: Kimberly-Ann Collins- elected 2020, 2022
78th District: Vacancy due to resignation of Rasheen Aldridge after his election as Alder
79th District: LaKeySha Bosley- elected 2018, 2020, 2022
80th District: Peter Meredith- elected 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, Term Limited
81st District: Steve Butz- elected 2018, 2020, 2022, he is the only openly anti-abortion legislator from St. Louis City
82nd District: Donna Baringer- elected 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, Term Limited
83rd District, mostly St. Louis County: Sarah Unsicker– elected 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, Term Limited
84th District: Del Taylor- elected 2022

August 6th is also when political parties elect one Committeeman and one Committeewoman from each of the City’s fourteen wards to serve on party Central Committees. This will be the first such election since wards were reduced to 14 from 28.

Deadline for filing as an Independent Candidate for November 5th General Election is July 29th. An Independent Candidate’s name appears on the printed ballot.
Independent Candidate Declaration Form for Non-Federal Office

Deadline for filing a Write-In Candidate Declaration of Intent for November 5th General Election is October 25th. A Write-in Candidate’s name does not appear on the printed ballot nor is there is list of Write-In Candidates posted at polling places. An unsuccessful candidate in the 2024 Primary Election may not file as Write-In Candidate for the same office in 2024 General Election. Write-in votes are counted only for the candidates who have filed a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate.
Write-in Candidate Information
Write-In Candidate Declaration of Intent for Non-Federal Office