Annie Rice, an immigration and civil rights lawyer and Black Lives Matter activist, will become the first woman to represent St. Louis’ 8th Ward at the Board of Aldermen, after she handily beat Democratic candidate Paul Fehler with 59.65 percent of the vote in the February 13 special election. Rice received 1,279 votes and Fehler 853 votes.
Both candidates were elected as Democratic committeemen in the August 2016 primary. Alderman Steve Conway, who held the position for 27 years, vacated his seat in November after the mayor appointed him as city assessor. Rice, who is 32, ran for alderman as an Independent candidate after the St. Louis City Democratic Central Committee picked Fehler, who is 40, as its nominee. Rice had presented more than 500 signatures from ward residents at the nomination meeting.
Rice points out that 28.29 percent of the ward’s registered voters came out to the polls for a special election, which is more than the 22.1 percent that voted in the ward’s aldermanic primary in 2015. She also received 430 votes more than Conway in his last election.
“This showed that choice is important for participation, for democracy,” Rice said. “People get involved when they have choice on the ballot. And if we need to look at a different way of doing special elections so people are more likely to participate, then that’s better for Democrats, that’s better for democracy.”
Fehler congratulated Rice in a Facebook post shortly after the results came in.
“I wish for a thriving 8th Ward under her leadership,” he stated. “Let us all now work together to ensure that we create a thriving 8th Ward.”
Rice’s win comes just after a weekend visit from U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, and state party chair Steve Webber, to energize their St. Louis base. In a private meeting with these party leaders on Saturday, several city committeemen and state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed decried Rice’s decision to run as an Independent, according to those who were present.
The central committee recently voted to pass a resolution asking Rice to resign and have proposed to change the committee’s bylaws to force the resignation of any committeeman who runs as an Independent. On February 24, the central committee will vote on bylaw changes that could also make committeemen who even support Independent candidates “subject to censure.” Several committee members, including 5th Ward Committeeman Rasheen Aldridge and 15th Ward Committeewoman Torrey Park, supported and campaigned for Rice.
Robert Hilgemann, chair of the Democratic Central Committee and 17th Ward committeeman, was among those calling for Rice’s resignation, which he said is now moot. However, he did not say that the bylaw changes were dead now as well.
Hilgemann said the 8th Ward race showed him that “the Democratic Central Committee has got to go back to square one on this and look at what we can do to see that this process is changed so it works better.”
In the past four out of five times when the committee selected candidates in special elections, Hilgemann said it was contentious and “created ill feelings among Democrats.” A subcommittee is going to look at holding a Democratic primary in these elections or getting ward organizations more involved in the selection, he said.
“It’s a message to us that it’s time to do something different,” he said.
Rice’s decisive victory demonstrates how the Democratic Party in St. Louis is out of touch with its voters, said 15th Ward Alderwoman Megan Ellyia Green, who like Rice is a Democrat but ran as an Independent in a special aldermanic election and won.
“Voters are looking for issue-oriented campaigns and will overlook a party label ‒ even in one of the city’s highest voting Democratic wards ‒ in favor of the candidate that best represents their values,” Green said.
“As Democrats we should be wise to listen to those at the grassroots, not only because that is where the energy is at in our party, but also because they represent the future of St. Louis and our state. Quite frankly, we need the grassroots if we are going to be successful in November.”
On Tuesday, November 6, Republican control of Congress will be tested in the midterm general election. U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) will face reelection on that day.
Reverend Darryl Gray, a Ferguson activist who was on the front lines of the Stockley verdict protests and a Democrat, said, “Today the machine lost. It’s all over for the party bosses. The people ruled, and that’s what Annie’s campaign did. That’s what Bruce Frank’s campaign did.”
State Rep. Bruce Franks Jr., who supported Rice, won his 78th District seat against a Democratic incumbent, Penny Hubbard, in a September 2016 special election that was ordered by a judge who found improper use of absentee votes by the Hubbard campaign in the Democratic Primary.
‘More outward thinking’
Rice practices law at Khazaeli Wyrsch LLC, which is representing several of the people arrested during the “kettling” mass arrest during demonstrations following the non-guilty verdict in the Jason Stockley murder trial. She serves on the board of The MICA (Migrant and Immigrant Community Action) Project, the largest regional nonprofit that provides legal services to immigrants.
When asked how she differs from Conway, Rice previously told the St. Louis American that the 8th Ward has shown that it is “more outward thinking than necessarily has been represented by the previous alderman.”
“We are voting in a way that shows me that we know that the growth of this city needs the growth of all of us,” Rice said. “Things that affect the 8th Ward affect the 4th Ward and the 5th Ward.”
Rice said she would approach constituent services differently. She would try to make more use of the Citizen Service Bureau for minor issues facing the residents, which would help free up time she could spend on drafting legislation.
“If we don’t use the Citizen Service Bureau, then they aren’t actively tracking the needs and can’t allocate resources to strengthen it,” Rice said. “There is something to be said for citizen empowerment. I don’t want to have to be a gatekeeper. I don’t want to be the one solely deciding whether someone’s dumpster gets picked up.”
However, she said she would always answer residents’ concerns about services.
In the fall, the ward’s two committeemen differed on passing the Prop P sales tax increase. Rice voted against the 8th Ward organization endorsing it, and Fehler voted in favor. The 8th Ward organization ultimately supported Prop P, though the ward’s voting majority opposed it.
Rice said police and firefighters deserve more pay, but she didn’t support the sales tax as a means to achieve this goal because it would hurt the city’s most vulnerable residents the most.
The Ethical Society of Police, an organization which represents largely black police officers, endorsed Rice. The St. Louis Police Officers Association endorsed Fehler.
Rice said her experience as a lawyer with the “constantly changing laws and regulations” set her apart from Fehler, and her understanding about the city’s immigrant population is a perspective that is currently missing at the Board of Aldermen. She was also elected to represent the 5th Senate District as committeewoman to the state Democratic Party, and she sits on its Platform Committee.
“I’ve developed close relationships with our state representatives and senators,” Rice told the American, “and those relationships can help make sure that the Board of Aldermen and our Democratic colleagues in Jefferson City are on the same page with strategies to protect St. Louisans and help them advance policies that work well together.”
