Missouri Sen. Brian Williams, D-University City, who is known for sponsoring a bill on police reform which went into affect in 2021, announced Thursday that he is running for St. Louis County Executive. The Democratic primary will take place in August 2026.
The American reported in 2021 that the bill on police reform that Williams sponsored, combined with another bill, would “implement a whole list of police reforms including prohibiting law enforcement from using chokeholds unless deadly force is authorized; increasing the penalty to a Class E felony for officers and correctional staff who engage in sexual conduct with a person in their custody; and preventing officers who have been discharged from one department for wrongdoing from simply moving to another department by granting immunity to departments to release that information.” This was hard fought for legislation which passed seven years after the shooting and killing of eighteen-year-old Mike Brown by Police Officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. Brown’s body was left unattended by county authorities for hours in the hot sun which led to an uprising in St. Louis that brought international attention to police violence against Black and brown people and the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.
Williams grew up in Ferguson, Missouri. In 2018, he became the first Black man elected to the State Senate in 20 years. He represents District 14, which includes Bridgeton, Ferguson, Hazelwood, Ladue and University City.
The current County Executive Sam Page faces two felony charges related to stealing and two misdemeanor charges for improperly spending public funds to influence the outcome of Proposition B on the ballot in April 2025. The proposition which would have given the St. Louis County Council the power to fire department heads was defeated.