Three takeaways from the 8th ward election
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I’ve been accused (mostly on Reddit) of unnecessarily going after Mayor Cara Spencer, and I’ve been told that my critiques of her are based in contempt for her election victory, which resulted in me losing my job.
Those accusations aren’t based in reality, but I can understand how my time working for former Mayor Tishaura Jones could diminish the impacts of my critiques against her former political opponent.
I hope the same logic applies, in the opposite direction, for when I pay Spencer a compliment, and I’ve got a few this week.
First, she played the 8th ward special election exactly correct, and showed that she has not only the political capital, but the political savvy to exert influence over the Board of Aldermen, something that is notoriously difficult for a mayor to do. She’s very aware that that legislative body is ripe for coalition building, and is ceasing on the opportunity.
Jami Cox Antwi, Spencer’s preferred successor for her old job as 8th ward alderperson, won her special election in a landslide on Tuesday, beating out four other candidates, including Shedrick “Nato Caliph Kelley,” the candidate who was supported and endorsed by the St. Louis City Democratic Central Committee and President of the Board of Aldermen Megan Green. I think there are three takeaways from Cox Antwi’s victory:
Spencer’s endorsement mattered, and came with a lot of financial backing. Spencer won the mayor’s race handily in April, and carried her ward by a 50% margin. She is currently at the height of her political power, coming off of that victory, coupled with a tornado that has extended her honeymoon period. She used this power to install her ally at the Board of Aldermen, a move that will pay dividends for the next four years (or at least until the next 8th ward election). It also helped that Spencer was aligned with Greater St. Louis, Inc., who share the goal (along with Cox Antwi) of bringing Rams Settlement funds into downtown. As with so many elections, this one came down to money and endorsements, and Spencer’s pick had both.
The City of St. Louis’ power structures are moving away from progressivism, toward a more centrist, business-focused style of governance.
For the last several years, St. Louis was shifting in a notably progressive direction, with Cori Bush’s victory over William Lacy Clay for Missouri’s 1st congressional district in 2020, Tishaura Jones beating Spencer for mayor in 2021, and Megan Green becoming president of the BOA in 2022 (to name just a few examples). It is clear now that the pendulum is shifting in the opposite direction. With Spencer’s defeat of Jones, Donna Baringer’s defeat of long-time incumbent Comptroller Darlene Green, and Megan Green’s endorsements, like Kelley, consistently losing (not to mention her inability to pass the Rams settlement legislation without the chamber descending into chaos), it is clear that the progressivism that defined the early 2020s is fading out of the city’s governance. As someone who considers myself much further left than the most progressive wings of the Democrat party, I’m not happy with this sea change, and I hope that the current leaders don’t forget their obligation to those who have the least among us. But the shift is undeniable. If I were Green, I would be worried.The St. Louis City Democratic Central Committee has become almost completely irrelevant in the City.
An endorsement from the SLCDCC used to mean something, and that’s just not the case anymore. Let’s look at their record just from the last few months:They endorsed Kelley over Cox Antwi in the 8th ward special election, and even tried to sue so that Kelley could put a (D) next to his name on the ballot. They lost both the election and the lawsuit.
They endorsed Darlene Green over Donna Baringer for comptroller, and lost.
They endorsed Cara Spencer in the Mayors race only after the writing on the wall became clear.
The committee doesn’t have money, they don’t have doorknockers, they don’t have resources, and they don’t have sway when it comes to their endorsements. It’s simply an old institution that still thinks it’s swinging the same old giant baseball bat, when in reality it’s swinging a child’s wiffleball bat, at best. Spencer was right to ignore their wishes.
The other compliment I have for the Mayor is that she made a good decision to stand by SLMPD spokesperson Mitch McCoy (or at the very least, not throw him under the bus) when he was pitted against Grove business owners in the Post-Dispatch earlier this week.
Typically, during pride, the Grove applies for an event permit with the City, which allows business owners and event organizers to coordinate with the City on security, street closures, event logistics, and more. This year, organizers declined to get an event permit with the City, which meant they did not block off the street, did not have a way to centrally coordinate with SLMPD on security, and overall did not have a cohesive plan going into last weekend.
The result was chaos, fights, and shots being fired at an event that is supposed to celebrate the beauty and diversity of our queer community.
Reading McCoy’s actual quotes, and the editorialization of his words that the Post-Dispatch refused to put quotes around, it’s clear that he was trying to say that SLMPD cannot shoulder the entire burden for what happened in the Grove this past weekend, because the lack of a permitted event meant that SLMPD was unable to properly coordinate on security. Instead, that burden should be shared amongst the City, the police force, business owners, and attendees to the event, and the best way to do that in the past and going forward is the existing process of having it be a permitted event. The Post-Dispatch, however, made it seem like McCoy was saying the blame laid exclusively with business owners. I don’t think that’s fair.
I have heard that, when asked about McCoy’s comments at her press conference this week, Mayor Spencer did not throw him under the bus, but instead said, correctly, that going forward there needs to be better coordination between everyone going into what is a known event weekend. This was a good move on her part.
I do have one critique of the Mayor related to all of this. We are now a month and a half out from the May 16th tornado, and Spencer’s admin’s response has been both praised and criticized, depending on who you ask. Amongst all of that, her comms shop was often telling reporters that they were ‘too busy with tornado response’ to comment or focus on certain matters that weren’t tornado related.
They used this as an excuse for far too long, and it is now officially unacceptable for them to use it ever again. If you can wield your political influence to install an alderperson, even amongst a lengthy disaster response, you can reply to press inquiries in a timely manner without avoiding the question.
The honeymoon period will come to an end soon, and the City of St. Louis will see how Spencer governs outside of the wake of a disaster. This will be the true test of her leadership.
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