(St. Louis Public Radio) – A woman will take over the St. Louis mayor’s office — a first in the city’s nearly 200-year history.
Democrat Lyda Krewson, the 28th Ward alderman since 1997, beat Republican Andrew Jones and four other candidates in Tuesday’s general election.
Her victory was expected in the majority-Democrat city and it was greater than her 888-vote win in the seven-way Democratic primary. Krewson won with 67.54 percent of the vote.
Krewson had the backing of outgoing Mayor Francis Slay, as well as several other prominent city leaders.
In an interview before all of the votes were counted, Krewson said she’ll begin assembling her mayoral staff on Wednesday, but hasn’t conducted any interviews yet. She also said that public safety remains her top priority.
A historical side note: Krewson won the office 130 years to the day that Argonia, Kansas’, Susanna Salter became the first woman to be elected mayor in the United States.
The other candidates in the general election were: Johnathan McFarland with the Green Party, Libertarian Robb Cunningham and independents Tyrone Austin and Larry Rice.
Republished with permission of St. Louis Public Radio: http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/lyda-krewson-become-st-louis-first-woman-mayor
