2021 St. Louis mayoral election

Last updated

2021 Saint Louis mayoral election
Flag of St. Louis, Missouri.svg
  2017 April 6, 20212025 
Turnout29.15%
  Tishaura Jones tight crop.jpg Cara Spencer crop.jpg
Candidate Tishaura Jones Cara Spencer
Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan
Popular vote30,16627,865
Percentage51.70%47.75%

St. Louis, Missouri mayoral election results by ward, 2021.svg
St. Louis Mayor 2021.svg
Jones:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Spencer:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Tie:     50%
     No votes

Mayor before election

Lyda Krewson
Democratic

Elected Mayor

Tishaura Jones
Nonpartisan

The 2021 St. Louis mayoral election occurred in two stages, with a unified primary on March 2, 2021, and a two-candidate general election on April 6, 2021. [1] Incumbent Democratic mayor Lyda Krewson was eligible to seek re-election to a second term in office, but chose to retire. [2]

Contents

In a primary field of four candidates, St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones and Alderwoman Cara Spencer advanced to the general election. [3] Jones defeated Spencer in the general election by nearly 4% of votes cast, becoming the first African-American woman elected to the office of mayor. [4]

Background

In 2017, then-St. Louis alderwoman Lyda Krewson was elected mayor, becoming the first woman to do so. However, in late 2020, she announced that she would not seek re-election to a second term, despite being eligible to run. Krewson cited her age as the primary reason for her retirement, saying: "I am now pushing 70. So after a lot of thinking and a lot of discussion with my family, I decided to retire in April and not run for re-election." Krewson had faced criticism during her term for her perceived mishandling of Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020, with numerous demonstrations outside the mayor's home and calls for her to resign. Krewson was also facing a primary challenge from Jones and Spencer, both of whom launched their campaigns for mayor before Krewson announced her retirement. However, Krewson denied that these factors had any influence on her decision not to seek re-election. [2]

Some also speculated that Proposition D, a ballot measure passed by St. Louis voters with 68% of the vote in November 2020, would have made it more difficult for Krewson to survive a primary challenge. [2] Proposition D altered St. Louis elections so that they would use a new electoral process. The old system used partisan primaries with first-past-the-post voting. Since 2021, all candidates for municipal elections in St. Louis instead compete in a single nonpartisan primary using approval voting, and the two candidates with the highest vote total advanced to the general election. [1] Krewson opposed Proposition D, while Jones supported it. [2]

Candidates

Candidates who advanced to the general election

CandidateExperienceParty preferenceRef
Tishaura Jones crop.jpg
Tishaura Jones
Treasurer of St. Louis (2013–2021)
Former Assistant Minority Floor Leader of the Missouri House of Representatives (2011–2013)
Former state representative (2009–2013)
Candidate for mayor in 2017
Tishaura Jones 2021 logo.png
Party preference: Democratic
(Website)
[5] [6]
Cara Spencer crop.jpg
Cara Spencer
St. Louis alderwoman for the 20th ward (2015–present) Cara Spencer 2021 logo.png
Party preference: Democratic
(Website Archived January 24, 2021, at the Wayback Machine )
[7]

Candidates eliminated in the primary

CandidateExperienceParty preferenceRef
3x4.svg
Andrew Jones
Utility manager
Nominee for mayor in 2017
Andrew Jones 2021 logo.png
Party preference: Republican
(Website)
[8] [9]
Lewis E. Reed crop.jpg
Lewis E. Reed
President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen (2007–2022)
Candidate for mayor in 2013 and 2017
Lewis Reed 2021 logo.png
Party preference: Democratic
(Website Archived January 13, 2021, at the Wayback Machine )
[10]

Disqualified

Declined

Primary election

In a primary field of four candidates, St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones and Alderwoman Cara Spencer advanced to the general election. [3] The two women defeated President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen Lewis E. Reed as well as utility manager Andrew Jones. [15]

Endorsements

Andrew Jones
Tishaura Jones
Federal officials
State officials
Mayors
Local officials
Individuals
Organizations
Lewis E. Reed

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin
of error
Andrew
Jones
Tishaura
Jones
Lewis
Reed
Cara
Spencer
Undecided
Remington Research (R)/Missouri Scout [upper-alpha 1] Archived February 15, 2021, at the Wayback Machine [lower-alpha 3] February 3–4, 2021501 (LV)± 4.4%19%51%59%40%
Show Me Victories (D) January 5–8, 2021732 (LV)± 4.0%5%28%30%11%27%

Results

Primary results by ward
T. Jones:      30-40%      40-50%      50-60%
Spencer:      30-40%      40-50% St. Louis, Missouri mayoral primary election results by ward, 2021.svg
Primary results by ward
T. Jones:      30-40%     40-50%     50-60%
Spencer:     30-40%     40-50%

Tishaura Jones and Cara Spencer advanced to the general election. [39] Because the primary election was conducted using approval voting (and voters had the opportunity to mark their approval of more than one candidate), the numbers in the "Approval percentage" row add up to more than 100 percent.

March 2, 2021

Primary election results [40]

Tishaura Jones Cara Spencer Lewis E. Reed Andrew Jones
Party preference: Democratic Party Democratic Party Democratic Party Republican Party

Votes of approval:

25,38820,65917,1866,428
Approval percentage:56.96%46.35%38.56%14.42%
Total vote cards cast: 44,571

General election

At the general election on the evening of Tuesday, April 6, 2021, Tishaura Jones defeated Cara Spencer to earn her first term as mayor of St. Louis, winning by over two thousand votes. [41] This constituted nearly 4% of the people that voted that evening. [42]

Polling

Leading up to the early April election, over 20% of voters told pollsters that they were undecided. [43]

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin
of error
Tishaura
Jones
Cara
Spencer
Undecided
Show Me Victories (D) March 25–28, 2021650 (LV)± 4.0%42%37%21%
Show Me Victories (D) March 4–6, 2021550 (LV)± 4.2%40%35%25%
Remington Research (R)/Missouri Scout [upper-alpha 1] March 3–4, 2021544 (LV)± 4.4%43%37%20%

Results

Tishaura Jones defeated Cara Spencer by a 4% margin. [42] Jones' margin of victory largely came from Northern St. Louis, while Spencer was stronger in the south. [44] Jones received her largest margins in wards where Lewis Reed had come second in the primary. [44]

2021 St. Louis mayoral general election results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Nonpartisan Tishaura Jones 30,166 51.70
Nonpartisan Cara Spencer27,86547.75
Write-in 3190.55
Total votes58,237 100.00

Results by Ward

WardTishuara JonesCara SpencerWrite-inTotal Votes
Votes%Votes%Votes%
Ward 1126284.1322915.2790.61500
Ward 2104379.1426920.4160.461318
Ward 394080.4822319.0950.431168
Ward 4112487.1315812.2580.621290
Ward 599072.2137627.4350.361371
Ward 6167360.18109739.46100.362780
Ward 7116544.08145955.20190.722643
Ward 8198157.34146242.32120.353455
Ward 9113450.92107948.45140.632227
Ward 1088335.95155963.48140.572456
Ward 1160338.4895761.0770.451567
Ward 1257620.41221378.42331.172822
Ward 1379132.67161066.50200.832421
Ward 1467938.65107160.9670.401757
Ward 15169258.57118841.1290.312889
Ward 1669318.17308180.76411.073815
Ward 17121751.74113048.0450.212352
Ward 18116577.3633722.3840.271506
Ward 19100673.4335926.2050.361370
Ward 2065154.0754345.10100.831204
Ward 21145185.2024914.6230.181703
Ward 2286984.3716115.6300.001030
Ward 2398328.53243570.66280.813446
Ward 2487134.41164464.95160.632531
Ward 2571658.7449540.6180.661219
Ward 26158578.7841920.8380.402012
Ward 27126384.2623115.4150.331499
Ward 28116038.68183161.0580.272999

Notes

  1. 1 2 Planned Parenthood Advocates of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri chose to endorse two candidates, as the 2021 mayoral election is St. Louis's first to use approval voting. [31]
  2. 1 2 The St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board chose to endorse two candidates, as the 2021 mayoral election is St. Louis's first to use approval voting. [36]
  3. Participants were asked if a candidate would receive one of their votes in the primary election. Due to the nature of this poll, the percentages do not total to 100%.
Partisan clients
  1. 1 2 Non-partisan poll conducted for the local non-partisan tipsheet Missouri Scout

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