With less than two weeks before the St. Louis municipal primary elections, the only races with much suspense left are two aldermanic races n for the 1st and 5th Wards n in North St. Louis.
In the 1st Ward, former state Rep. Charles Quincy Troupe is pitted against former 20th Ward Alderwoman Sharon Tyus and the Rev. Cleo Willis. Tyus is trying to regain a seat on the Board of Aldermen after being intentionally drawn out of a ward in 2001. Troupe and Tyus were former allies during the ward fights, but fell out because Tyus believes that Troupe and 1st Ward Alderwoman Irene Smith double-crossed her and her husband, Sterling Miller.
According to Troupe, Tyus had concocted a plan that involved Miller running for 1st Ward alderman, Smith running for 22nd Ward alderman and Tyus running for 4th Ward alderman. This plan allegedly was thwarted when Tyus’ father-in-law, Sam Miller, would not sell or give her a house he owned in the 4th Ward.
Now, Tyus thinks she can win the 1st Ward because the ward’s new boundaries include almost two-thirds of the old 20th Ward. But, according to both Troupe and the person who helped draft the redistricted map, former 22nd Ward Alderman Kenneth Jones, the Penrose section of the 20th Ward n where Tyus was strongest n was redrawn into the 21st and 4th Wards, not the 1st. Another issue for Tyus is the candidacy of the Rev. Cleo Willis. Willis is a long-time resident and activist in the 20th Ward and is expected to pull votes from Tyus.
By no means will the contest be a cakewalk for Troupe, but his long tenure as 1st Ward Democratic committeeman and state representative, his organizational edge, the redistricting of Tyus’s base and Willis’ impact make him the odds-on favorite to win.
In the 5th Ward, incumbent Alderwoman April Ford Griffin is being challenged by 5th Ward Democratic Committeewoman Cheryl Nelson. Nelson’s challenge is being supported by state Rep. Rodney Hubbard. Nelson’s hopes of winning were buoyed last August, when she and Hubbard won the Democratic committee posts over Ford Griffin’s brother, Anothony Ford, and the committeewoman.
Hubbard’s victory in the committeeman’s race was his second in a row over Anthony Ford. In 2002, he unseated the incumbent Ford in the state representative’s race. While Ford Griffin reportedly sits on a huge campaign war chest raised as a result of the large number of developers who are on a home-building frenzy in the 5th Ward, Nelson is relying on the grass roots support of Hubbard’s political organization and its two-for-two winning streak against the Ford Griffin camp.
Over in the 17th ward, Rodney Burchfield, a candidate for alderman against incumbent Joe Roddy Jr., is receiving support from two young state representatives, Rachel Storch and Maria Chappelle-Nadal. Storch’s support of Burchfield is payback for his support of her bid for state representative. It is unclear why Chappelle-Nadal, who represents a district in St. Louis County, is supporting Burchfield. An ambitious Burchfield, self-anointed as the “Barak Obama of St. Louis,” is hoping that the 17th Ward’s demographics n it’s more that 55 percent African-American n will catapult him to victory.