Five candidates on ballot for August 8 primary
Of the St. Louis American
State Sen. Maida Coleman has teamed with outgoing, term-limited state Sen. Pat Dougherty for four years in Jefferson City. Now she wishes next Tuesday would just come and go.
Tuesday’s Democratic primary will most likely decide who will replace Dougherty. But, in a tight race in the 4th Senatorial District involving several well-known candidates, Coleman is not making an endorsement.
Though she has ties to candidate state Rep. Amber Boykins’ family and donated financially to Boykins’ campaign, Coleman said, “I’ll be glad when it’s over.”
“I have so many caveats about this race. It’s been trying on everybody. I’m just looking forward to getting another Democrat back into the Senate.”
Boykins and state Rep. Yaphett El-Amin, former state House member Derio Gambaro, former congressional candidate Jeff Smith and former city alderman Kenneth Jones are all vying for the seat.
“This race is about what we’ve done, not what we say we will do,” El-Amin said.
“At the end of the day, look at my track record.”
El-Amin said that record includes “a consistent voice” in the fight against Medicaid cuts, the Voter ID Bill, eminent domain and other issues that negatively impact “not only my district, but the entire state of Missouri.”
When elected in 1998, Boykins was the youngest African-American woman legislator in the history of the Missouri House. She is also the daughter of former state Rep. Billie A. Boykins, who served in the House from 1978-1982.
“My ability to bring monies into this district is unmatched. I have shown commitment to this city and this region,” Boykins said.
That commitment includes education. “I am the only candidate (in the race) who has not supported either vouchers programs or charter schools,” she said.
“As the next state senator, I will fight any attempt to divert any money from public school.”
She said she battled to restore more than 100,000 people to Medicaid rolls who had been lopped off by the Republican-controlled Legislature, and “I will keep that fight going as state senator.”
Smith says he has “the energy, tenacity and knowledge of the issues to fight Gov. Matt Blunt as he attempts to take the state back a generation.”
After his spirited attempt to win the Democratic nomination for a U.S. House seat fell short in 2004, Smith left the state for New Hampshire, where he taught at Dartmouth University. He is currently teaching political science as an adjunct professor at Washington University.
He says his experience as an educator is an important intangible he brings to the race.
He said a district “in turmoil” like St. Louis Public Schools “would benefit by having people who have spent years in classrooms in office.”
Gambaro has criticized Smith for his establishment of a charter school which, like many others, lagged in academic performance.
Gambaro will also garner some Republican votes in the primary as the lesser of evils (that is, progressives) among the Democrats. He does not support abortion rights and supports tax credits for scholarships to send children to private or “better-performing” public schools.
Jones says, “My history for being a consistent supporter of working people’s interests is better than any other candidate’s.”
“I have 20 years of legislative experience on the city Board of Aldermen, introduced 47 bills that became law and was the first person ever elected to the board as an independent.”
He served three years as executive director of the city’s Civil Rights Enforcement division, where he said he “turned budget deficits into budget surplus.”
