At 10:20 p.m. Tuesday night, Clem Smith stepped out into the muggy summer heat from the blaring music inside his election watch party at Studio Blu, near Interstate 170 and Natural Bridge in North County.
“I got to do one of these, ‘Woo!’” Smith said, as he let out a ground-shaking yell.
Smith, an aircraft journeyman at Boeing, had just learned he would almost certainly win the state representative seat for District 71 seat, formerly held by Don Calloway, in the Aug. 3 primary.
Smith beat his closest opponent Kris Boevingloh, an alderman in Pasadena Hills, 1,470 to 1,241 votes, according to unofficial election results.
Smith’s celebratory howl shook the only other people enduring the heat outside – state Rep. Chris Carter and Stephanie Dooley. Both are founding members of the Young Democrats of St. Louis.
“I can’t wait to see you up there,” said Carter, who will be serving his second term in the House for District 61. He had no opponent in the primary.
“It’s been the longest and shortest period of my life,” Smith said of his campaign. “A good core group of people came together.”
As if answering to a personal announcement, Rita Heard Days, term-limited state senator for the 14th District, stepped outside.
Days held the 71st District state rep. seat prior to Esther Haywood, who held it prior to Don Calloway.
“Clem has an overall background that lends itself to understanding the community,” Days said. “He’s been laid off and went through retraining. He can better relate to the people of this district.”
Days said in this term-limited era, the community is looking for young people with holistic approaches to politics, and not resume builders. Her comment referred to Don Calloway’s campaign for her 14th District state Senate seat, after working only two years in the House.
“I think he would have gained more experience in the House that would have helped him get a better grasp on the issues,” Days said of Calloway. “But he chose to run for the Senate, and that’s everyone’s prerogative.”
Senator Maria
In University City, Maria Chapelle-Nadal was celebrating her win of Days’ vacated 14th District Senate seat.
This race was the most closely contested state Senate primary race, with unofficial final votes tallying: Chapelle-Nadal with 3,987; Ted Hoskins with 3,734 votes; Calloway with 3,468 votes; Joe Adams with 1,734.
Chapelle-Nadal said she is committed to public education and job creation.
“People here are hemorrhaging,” Chapelle-Nadal said, noting that many are still without jobs.
“That’s what I experienced walking door to door. I’m disappointed to see Proposition C pass. People who really need health care are not getting it.”
Proposition C, approved by 71 percent of statewide voters, would undermine key, controversial provisions in President Obama’s health reform legislation. It is unlikely to be implemented, given that the U.S. Constituion states that federal laws preempt state laws.
It was a hot day at the polls on Tuesday, but Shirley Day, who was at the Dellwood Recreation Center poll station campaigning for Chapelle-Nadal, felt that it was worth it.
“This is a woman I can get excited about,” Day said, “and that was the reason I stood out there in the hot sun. She is the best person for the 14th District.”
State Sen. Robin Wright-Jones said she supported Chapelle-Nadal, who did not accept $30,000 from billionaire financier Rex Sinquefield like her opponents Ted Hoskins and Don Calloway did.
“The money that Sinquefield throws around like confetti,” Wright-Jones said.
“We make $36,000. When you’re giving close to that salary, you have bought yourself a politician. No one wants to say the hard stuff; they’d rather take the money and run.”
In other races
In the District 24 state Senate race, covering a neighboring area of St. Louis County, Barbara Fraser beat Sam Page, a resounding 8,961 to 5,124 votes.
In other state House races:
· The District 64 seat, formerly held by Rachel Storch, went to Susan Carlson with 75 percent of the vote.
· Tommie Pierson secured the District 69 seat with 62.3 percent of the vote.
· Steve Webb, a young black Democrat, beat two challengers in the District 74 race, winning an amazing 70 percent of the vote with 2,564 votes.
Michael Jones, senior policy advisor for County Executive Charlie A. Dooley (who won a marginally contested primary on Tuesday), noted that this primary marked a new era of young black leaders.
“When I think about some of the young people we have going to the House, it’s a cadre of solid young black representatives,” Jones said. “If we can find a way to keep them in the game, they will be important players.”
Jones pointed to Chris Carter, Steve Webb and Tishuara Jones, all of whom have served one term in the state House. Carter and Jones ran unopposed in the primary. Now Smith is joining them.
Jones said these leaders are about the same age as he was when he got into politics around 1979 with a similar close-knit group, including Virvus Jones, Elbert Walton, Mike Roberts Sr. and Steve Roberts.
“All of us came to politics within three or four years of each other,” Mike Jones said. “This looks the same to me.”
Carter said he would add Alderpersons Kacie Starr Triplett and Antonio D. French to the list. Carter grew up with politics. His uncle is Alderman Greg Carter and his grandmother, political pioneering icon Paula Carter, held his seat long ago. However, he never thought that he would be in politics, he said.
“When I came back from college, I saw what was once a thriving neighborhood filled with empty buildings,” he said. “I wanted to change that.”