Jennifer Joyce is the type of well-informed voter who always votes in Democratic primaries that any serious Democratic primary campaign tries to reach and persuade. Given that she was herself a longtime citywide elected official as circuit attorney also makes her a potentially valuable political endorsement. Last week, she took to a social medium devoted to her South St. Louis neighborhood to weigh in on the Democratic mayoral primary that will be decided on March 7. She offered a remarkable assessment.
“I believe that we need new thinking to move forward in St. Louis. That is my problem with Lyda Krewson,” Joyce wrote. “When you look at her supporters and advisors, it’s Groundhog Day. Sinquefield, Rainford, SLPOA (which, by the way, does not speak for most officers, IMHO). It’s all very, very establishment.”
“Groundhog Day” is a film where the same day keeps happening over and over again, so Joyce implies that electing Krewson – the only electable white candidate in the race – would amount to a replay of the administration of Mayor Francis G. Slay. Sinquefield is Rex Sinquefield, the billionaire political player who remains Slay’s single largest campaign funder. Rainford is Jeff Rainford, who ran many of Slay’s campaigns and served as his first chief of staff, who set the tone for the version of the Slay administration that rubbed so many of us the wrong way. Rainford was notorious for blunt manipulation of racially divisive politics and the skillful deployment of the Post-Dispatch and KSDK, among other local media, to hurt opponents and control the narrative of city politics. The SLPOA is the city police union, which endorsed Krewson, who in turn, pledged to put 300 new police officers on the streets (and put the city on the hook for 300 more pensions).
Joyce posted this on a South St. Louis neighborhood site, then soon deleted it. She would not speak to us on the record about why she deleted the post, but it was not because she changed her mind. One can only imagine the firestorm unleashed on her from her former South Side political base and other political actors for her to so plainly identify so many sound reasons why the South Side’s candidate – despite Krewson’s adoption of the “racial equity” rhetoric popularized locally by the Ferguson Commission – is not a change candidate for a city that desperately needs major policy change.
Joyce did not offer an endorsement in her post, but she did narrow the candidate pool down to two. Her assessment here comes from up-close personal experience. “That’s why I’m favoring Tishaura Jones and Antonio French,” Joyce wrote. “I’ve worked with both, and I can tell you they are both very smart and dedicated to making an impact on crime – which is a huge issue for me. Both would be a breath of fresh air in City Hall.”
This analysis is nothing short of stunning. It’s not Krewson, the white candidate whom the police union endorsed, that she trusts to make a positive impact on crime from the mayor’s office, but two young black candidates who have both, at times, struggled against the police union and certainly always stood up to them. Improving public safety, the city’s longtime and most recent prosecutor argues, does not depend on simply putting more police on the street. It requires a real change of direction, Joyce argues – with a genuine focus on racial equity and creative problem-solving – and she thinks Tishaura Jones and Antonio French are the best change candidates.
According to the latest campaign finance reports, Krewson has $576,199.41 in the bank. Reed has $254,529.68; Jones has $219,306; Boyd has $21,014 and French reported $209.88. French’s report shows that he already has amassed a debt of close to $40,000, and Reed reported a debt of $13,000.
In the polls released to date, Krewson leads the field of candidates with 24 percent – everyone else who is electable, which is Jones, French and Lewis Reed, are black – but more voters polled were undecided than committed to Krewson, and more voters are committed to the black candidates collectively than to Krewson. That’s why this analysis from a white person with expertise and credibility is so potentially explosive. If white voters who want change actually vote for change, and a consensus black change candidate emerges, then what should have been (by the old racial math Jeff Rainford does in his sleep) an easy win for Krewson becomes a very competitive race. We owe Jennifer Joyce for this burst of candor and honesty. Now all we need is a consensus black change candidate.
