While this is not an endorsement, the EYE sees that a black voter could do worse than voting for Jeff Smith for state senator.
Smith held a fundraiser at The Cedars, hosted by Gerald Slay, on Monday and declared that his campaign “will make it so that we don’t see St. Louis politics in the same tired prism of North Side and South Side.”
What is unique in Smith’s approach is that he is not making campaign promises, he is making promises about his campaign. In fact, his speech Monday centered more on defeating Republican opponents in Jefferson City than on the challengers for state Sen. Pat Dougherty’s senate seat in St. Louis. The African-American candidates, state Rep. Yaphett El-Amin, state Rep. Amber Boykins and former alderman Kenneth Jones, will be hard-pressed to win as many white votes as Smith will black votes.
One reason is that Smith is visible in the black community. He is the coach of a youth basketball team at Mathews-Dickey. He shared a story of what Gov. Matt Blunt’s cuts to Medicaid have done to a St. Louis family.
One of Smith’s players is slightly autistic. Unfortunately, his family was forced to choose between the boy’s medicine and paying for health-care coverage.
He said Republicans in Jefferson City should prepare for him to filibuster for “six or seven hours” to stop horrible cuts like those passed last year.
“Trust me, I can talk that long,” he said.