Election update: St. Louis City Election board issued a supplemental final unofficial result of Ward 9 voting, on Friday, March 10, which states that after completed review of eight provisional ballots in the March 7 Primary Municipal Election, Tina Pihl’s vote total is 876, Michael Gras’ vote total is 868, and Tina Pihl’s name will appear on the April 4 General Municipal Election. This article was written and published before this announcement.
Last week, we made 28 predictions – EYE-drops – for Tuesday’s first round of Aldergeddon. Out of the 14 wards, our predictions for four races were incorrect – but only half so. With a disappointing 12.6% voter turnout – paired with dry but chilly weather – we can say confidently that the voters who came out were not “casual” participants in civic engagement, but instead, they were people who knew exactly which candidate they wanted to support.
The candidates who will move forward to April 4 are:
Ward 1: incumbent Anne Schweitzer (53.60%) and Tony Kirchner (49.70%).
Ward 2: incumbent Tom Oldenburg (59.35%) and Phill Menendez (59.35%). The Eye had predicted Tom Oldenburg and Katie Bellis to move on to the next round.
Ward 3: incumbent Shane Cohn (unopposed)
Ward 4: incumbents Bret Narayan (52.32%) and Joe Vaccaro (53.64%)
Ward 5: incumbent Joe Vollmer (64.61%) and Helen Petty (40.89%)
Ward 6: Daniela Velazquez (66.29%) and Jennifer Florida (40.07%)
Ward 7: Alisha Sonnier (60.81%) and J.P. Mitchom (40.12%). The Eye had predicted Alisha Sonnier and Cedric Redmon to move on to the next round.
Ward 8: incumbent Cara Spencer (73.87%) and Kenneth Ortmann (29.41%). The Eye had predicted Cara Spencer and Shedrick Kelley to move on to the next round.
Ward 9: Michael Browning (49.78%); the second candidate has yet-to-be-determined, as both incumbent aldermen (Michael Gras and Tina Pihl) received the exact same number of votes.
Ward 10: incumbent Shameem Clark-Hubbard (61.33%) and Emmett Coleman (47.97%)
Ward 11: incumbent Laura Keys (69.96%) and Carla Wright (38.32%)
Ward 12: incumbent Sharon Tyus (62.86%) and Tashara Earl (35.81%)
Ward 13: incumbents Norma Walker (36.63%) and Pamela Boyd (54.22%)
Ward 14: Ebony Washington (39.81%) and Rasheen Aldridge (37.39%). The Eye had predicted Rasheen Aldridge and Brandon Bosley to move on to the next round
Some observations:
Leave it to the Post-Dispatch to present a version of this week’s primary election that simply is not true. For example, in Tuesday’s coverage where they suggest that “none” of the candidates backed by Mayor Tishaura O. Jones or Board President Megan Green “claimed the top spot in their ward.”
This could not be further from the truth that any objective observer can see.
Not only did all but one of Mayor Jones-backed candidate make it through to the next round, but three candidates (Alisha Sonnier, Daniela Velazquez, and Shameem Clark-Hubbard) received the top number of votes in their ward races. This directly contradicts the statements made by the Post-Dispatch. Tashara Earl broke through in a tough 5-candidate race that included incumbent Sharon Tyus to snag the second spot for the 12th Ward’s April 4 ballot. Only Shedrick Kelley was unable to collect enough votes in the 8th Ward for round 2 – but this one loss hardly translates to “mixed results” for progressive Democrats in the City.
The Post even declared on Monday that a Republican-administered poll by the Missouri Scout returned “low approval ratings” for Mayor Jones. Clearly, this week’s election results show a much different and more favorable picture for the Mayor – a more accurate depiction that goes beyond the majority-white retirees polled by Remington Research.
We’d like to give the Post the benefit of the doubt for writing the column before the full election results were released, but each woman also received the top number of absentee votes, so once again we are left to conclude that the Post-Dispatch must dislike Black and Brown women.
In the 4th Ward, incumbent Bret Narayan got almost as many votes as incumbent Joe Vaccaro, who currently chairs the Public Safety Committee. The votes cast for third candidate Casey Otto could very easily push Narayan into the lead in the next round.
Alisha Sonnier flexed the strength of both her community and political support on Tuesday, staffing every 7th Ward polling place with volunteers, several current aldermen, Mayor Jones, and President Green.
“The results of the primary show that the Seventh Ward has a desire to be a place for ALL of us and that we desire an equitable STL for all,” Sonnier told the EYE in an exclusive interview. “Our residents deserve a leader who will advocate for us fiercely and who already has the relationships to best serve us in this critical moment.” Sonnier also promised to reach the voters whose doors she hasn’t yet knocked.
We have no idea what’s going to happen in the 9th Ward, where incumbent aldermen Mike Gras and Tina Pihl not only lost to newcomer Michael Browning, but they each also received the exact same number of votes. Proposition D, which moved the city to an “approval voting” system a few years ago, didn’t account for the situation where there is an exact tie. So the candidates may have to play a few rounds of “rock, paper, scissors,” or they may have to go to court to figure things out.
“We worked hard to reach voters in the 9th by meeting people where they are,” Browning told the EYE. “Our message was ‘a city that cares,’ and we demonstrated that by speaking to the issues that affect St. Louisans in their daily lives.”
Although we are in unprecedented times in St. Louis, we do know that Browning will certainly move forward on the April 4 ballot.
Finally, we simply could not look at the absentee results of the 14th Ward without thinking of recent litigation involving the Hubbard family and an absentee ballot scheme.
Our readers may recall the 2016 Missouri House race between then-incumbent Penny Hubbard and community activist Bruce Franks. Franks’ eventual 3-to-1 victory came after a previous primary race was overturned by a St. Louis City judge, after he found that Hubbard improperly used – wait for it – absentee ballots in her campaign. Franks’ campaign also presented evidence of polling place irregularities in Carr Square Village, where Hubbard’s husband served as executor director of the tenant community. After the new election was over and with court oversight, Hubbard was unable to collect the same significant number of absentee ballots to win, clearing a path for Franks to devastate the incumbent state representative.
So, you can imagine our surprise when a candidate with no name recognition (Washington) unseated a North City family dynasty that has held the Third Ward aldermanic seat since 1977. Given the younger Bosley’s penchant for litigation threats, we will certainly be keeping an EYE on this race. We have a feeling the results of this primary race are far from over.
What is certain is that the last few years have seen the decline and fall of several strong political dynasties, including the Hubbards, Clays, Roberts, and now the Bosleys.