Other than the unexpectedly tightly contested race in the 3rd Ward, there were very few surprises in what was the most boring and apathetic municipal primary election in the EYE’s memory.
In the ten contested aldermanic primary elections, only two candidates received more than 1,000 votes. That was in the 27th Ward, where incumbent Gregory Carter defeated Ron Clark 1,152 to 286, and in the 23rd Ward, where incumbent Kathleen Hanrahan defeated Forrest “Woody” Hayes 1,614 to 963.
The Rev. Cleo Willis showed that his decision to run for alderman in the 1st Ward was a total waste of our time and his money. Willis received all of 40 votes in what turned out to be a two-person race between two former allies. First Democratic Committeeman Charles Quincy Troupe defeated former 20th Ward Alderwoman Sharon Tyus 995 to 711. Tyus, who filed at the last hour of the last day to file, has hopefully been dealt her last hurrah. What started out as a promising career turned sour, mainly because of Tyus’s inability to exorcize the demons in her psyche that left her looking ineffective and unstable.
The surprise of the night was the performance by Jeffrey Hardin, who gave incumbent 3rd Ward Alderman Freeman Bosley Sr. the scare of his political career as he narrowly escaped defeat by a 19-vote margin (672 to 653). Again, neither candidate reached the thousand-vote mark.
Incumbent 5th Ward Alderwoman April Ford-Griffin used her large warchest and impressive record of development in the 5th Ward to defeat her challenger, 5th Ward Democratic Committeewoman Cheryl Nelson (966-757) in round 37 of her continuing feud with state Rep. Rodney Hubbard. This is probably not the last time Ford-Griffin and Hubbard will square off in their effort to become the crown prince or princess of the vacant lots in the 5th Ward.
Over in the 4th Ward, a feudal province of vacancy that desperately begs for some level of continuity in political leadership, incumbent Alderwoman Peggy Ryan, who is midway through her first full term, was recalled. The supporters of this successful recall effort are former allies of Ryan who, in the words of the late rapper Easy E, want their corner back, or in this case scores of empty corners. The vote to recall Ryan won 599 to 572, hardly a resounding victory. But it did speak volumes about the apathy among the vast majority of voters.
In another election of interest, incumbent 17th Ward Alderman Joe Roddy cruised to victory (966 to 577) over Rodney Burchfield, the self-anointed “Barak Obama of St. Louis.”
Incumbent 19th Ward Alderman Michael McMillan scored the most lopsided victory of the day by beating his opponent Mwenyeyi Mtu 778 to 94. Mwenyeyi seems to have gotten all of the African vote in the 19th Ward.
Incumbent 21st Ward Alderwoman Bennice Jones King was successful in staving off three opponents in winning with 950 votes over challengers Laura Keyes (332), Phil Berry (211) and former alderman Melinda Long (179). This was Long’s feeble attempt to regain the seat she lost two years ago in a special election after she was recalled.
In the only other contested aldermanic election, 25th Ward incumbent Dorothy Kirner beat Steven Patterson, 554 to 437. These results show that the lack of interest among the electorate regarding who will represent them on the St. Louis Board of Alderman is a city-wide phenomenon.