State Representative Yaphett El-Amin, 57th District, held a press conference Tuesday to officially announce that she is a candidate for the 4th District state Senate seat being vacated by state Senator Pat Dougherty who, because of term limits, is prohibited from seeking reelection. El-Amin joins her colleague, state Representative Amber Boykins, as the only candidates who have officially announced their intention to run.
As previously reported by the EYE, Jeff Smith, a political science professor at Washington University who lost a close race in the 2004 Democratic Primary to 3rd District Congressman Russ Carnahan, is seriously considering joining the race. Two other potential candidates who had previously considered a bid, state Representative Rachel Storch and state Representative Fred Kratky, have backed off for various reasons.
If Smith does run, this would leave two blacks and one white in the race, which (pardon the pun) would make race a key determining element in deciding who will win. St. Louis is a one-party Democratic enclave – until it comes to race. It then divides into two parties, black Democrats and white Democrats, with few votes cast across the color line.
The 4th District – the first district to send a black to the Missouri Senate -has a majority black population and for almost 40 years was represented by an African American, starting with labor leader T. D. McNeal, followed by Franklin Payne, Gwen Giles, John Bass and Wm. Lacy Clay. The district would have continued to be represented by a black Democrat if internal feuding among black Democrats had not handed the seat to Dougherty in 2000. The district became vacant when Clay was elected to U.S. Congress that year.
Although past history suggests this election will boil down to black Democrats voting for a black candidate and white Democrats voting for the white candidate, an election based on who put forth the best ideas and plans to represent the district would be novel and welcome. A campaign of ideas would not necessarily favor either of the two black candidates against Smith, an outspoken progressive who supports affirmative action, abortion and gay rights, a more compassionate Medicaid program, and a number of other progressive reforms for the State of Missouri. Hopefully, there will be opportunities for El-Amin, Boykins and Smith to engage in discussions that highlight what they believe and where they would help lead the district during this time of crisis.
While El-Amin and Boykins pursue a promotion to the state Senate, their husbands have decided to try to keep the state representative districts they are vacating in the family. The EYE has heard that Sean Simms and Talibin El-Amin are planning to run for state representative in the 61st and 57th districts, respectively.
In the 61st District, Boykins’ husband Sean will face Jamila Nasheed, a close ally of El-Amin and the former owner of Sankofa Bookstore, and Bob Bartlett, the former president of the Metro bus drivers union and state representative whom Boykins defeated in 1998. According to Nasheed, Bartlett is being encouraged by 1st Ward Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe. Nasheed and Troupe are former allies, but have since split over El-Amin’s decision to appoint her husband committeeman when Troupe was elected alderman and had to resign his committeeman’s job. Nasheed is telling people that their problem with Troupe simply stems from his being old and stubborn.
The EYE found it interesting that both Nasheed and El-Amin have recently shed their traditional Muslim hijab in their public appearances. Nasheed is also sporting straight hair. Maybe political mainstreaming starts with the ‘do.
