Lacy Clay

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Ivie Lewellen
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(m. 1992;div. 2011)​
Pat Goncalves
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Lacy Clay
Wm Lacy Clay, official portrait, 116th Congress.jpg
Member of the U.S.HouseofRepresentatives
from Missouri's 1st district
In office
January 3, 2001 –January 3, 2021
Children2
Relatives Bill Clay (father)
Education University of Maryland, College Park (BA)
Lacy Clay's voice
Lacy Clay voices his support for the African American Civil Rights Network Act of 2017
Recorded July 26, 2017

William Lacy Clay Jr. (born July 27, 1956) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative from Missouri's 1st congressional district from 2001 to 2021. His congressional career ended after he lost in a Democratic primary to Cori Bush in 2020, after successfully defeating her in the 2018 primary.

Contents

The district Clay represented is based in the city of St. Louis and includes most of northern St. Louis County (North County), including the cities of Maryland Heights, University City, Ferguson and Florissant.

Early life and education

William Lacy Clay Jr. was born in St. Louis, Missouri. [1] His family moved to Washington, D.C., when his father, Bill Clay, was elected to Congress. His mother was Carol Ann (nee Johnson). [2]

In his teenage years, Clay attended public schools in Silver Spring, Maryland, and graduated from Springbrook High School in 1974. He subsequently attended the University of Maryland, College Park, earning a degree in political science and a paralegal certificate. Clay is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He attended Howard University School of Law, worked as an Assistant Doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives, and worked on his father's Congressional campaigns. [3]

Missouri Legislature

Clay entered the Missouri House of Representatives in 1983, winning a special election to complete the term of Nathaniel J. "Nat" Rivers. [4] In 1991, he was elected to the Missouri Senate.

U.S. House of Representatives

In 2000, Bill Clay announced his retirement after 32 years in Congress. His son, Lacy Clay, faced a three-way Democratic primary to succeed his father. Clay Jr. prevailed with 62% of the vote. He breezed to victory in the general election. He was reelected nine times, winning Democratic primaries by an average margin of 30 points. In ten general elections, Clay Jr. has received an average of 73.5% of the general election vote.[ citation needed ]

For his first six terms, Clay represented the northern two-thirds of St. Louis, while the southern third was in Missouri's 3rd congressional district, represented by Russ Carnahan. After Missouri lost a congressional district as a result of the 2010 census, the final map resulted in the 3rd district being eliminated and the 1st district absorbing all of St. Louis, [5] a decision in which then-U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill said Clay was involved for his self-interest. [6] Clay beat Carnahan in the August 7, 2012, primary, 63% to 34%. [7] [8]

In the 2018 Democratic primary, he defeated Cori Bush, a Justice Democrat, and two other challengers with 56.7% of the vote. In the general election, Clay beat Republican Robert Vroman with 80% of the vote.

In the 2020 Democratic primary, he lost to Bush, with 45% of the vote to her 48%. [9]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Capitol painting

In January 2017, Clay argued with Republican lawmakers over the right to hang a controversial painting in the Capitol building. The winner of an art competition, the painting represents the violent Ferguson unrest of 2014 and ensuing police-community relations in Ferguson, Missouri, depicting police officers as pigs while apprehending suspects. The painting is displayed near the police security checkpoint. Representative Duncan Hunter removed the painting and Clay rehung it. Several Republicans, including Doug Lamborn, Dana Rohrabacher, and Brian Babin, repeatedly removed the painting, and Clay rehung it each time. Clay then attempted to file a complaint with the Capitol Police accusing Hunter of theft. [14] After the Architect of the Capitol ruled that the winning painting had violated the rules of the competition and ordered its permanent removal, Clay sued to overturn the decision, but the suit was dismissed by a federal judge. Clay continued to assert a First Amendment argument on behalf of his young constituent, asking, "How is it possible that we stand for freedom of speech and freedom of expression every place across this country, except the U.S. Capitol?" [15]

Federal legislation to curb gun violence

In the 116th Congress, Clay introduced HR 3435, the Local Public Health and Safety Protection Act, legislation that would, for the first time at the federal level, give local communities the freedom to enact regulations to curb gun violence without seeking permission from their state legislatures. The legislation grants local control over the issue via the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and by tying the law to future public safety grant funding to states from the U.S. Department of Justice. Support across the nation for Clay's bill is growing, with endorsements from Moms Demand Action Against Gun Violence, Newtown Action, Giffords Courage, Brady, and many other gun control advocates.[ citation needed ]

Environment

While in his role as a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, Clay was an advocate for renewable energy, acting on climate change, cosponsoring the Green New Deal, protecting National Parks, national seashores, wildlife refuges, forests, and rivers. He was also an outspoken champion for cleaning up hazardous waste sites in largely minority communities, which are often the victims of environmental racism. Clay led the effort to clean up three dangerous, hazardous sites in his district: $5 million for the former St. Louis Army Ammunition Plant in North St. Louis, $33 million for the former Carter Carburetor plant site in North St. Louis, and $266 million for the radiologically contaminated West Lake Landfill Superfund site in Northwest St. Louis County.[ citation needed ]

Political positions

During Clay's 17 years in the Missouri legislature, he authored Missouri's Hate Crimes Law, which included gender, sexual orientation and sexual identity in the criteria for what constitutes a hate crime. [16]

He was one of the 31 United States Representatives who voted not to count the electoral votes from Ohio in the 2004 presidential election. [17]

Clay voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. [18]

Clay is a supporter of the Federal Reserve's program of quantitative easing, claiming it has led to economic recovery since the financial crisis of 2007–2008. [19]

On December 18, 2019, Clay voted for both articles in the first impeachment of Donald Trump. [20]

Electoral history

Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2000 [21]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. 34,398 60.56
Democratic Charlie Dooley 15,61227.48
Democratic Eric Erfan Vickers3,5436.24
Democratic Bill (William C.) Haas1,6022.82
Democratic Steven G. Bailey1,1442.01
Democratic Joe Mondrak5040.89
Total votes56,803 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2000 [22]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. 149,173 75.21
Republican Z. Dwight Billingsly42,73021.54
Green Brenda (Ziah) Reddick3,0991.56
Libertarian Tamara A. Millay2,2531.14
Reform Robert Penningroth1,0920.55
Total votes198,347 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2002 [23]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 41,405 74.30
Democratic Carl E. Harris14,32225.70
Total votes55,727 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2002 [24]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 133,946 70.11
Republican Richard Schwadron51,75527.09
Libertarian Jim Higgins5,3542.80
Total votes191,055 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2004 [25]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 213,658 75.29
Republican Leslie L. Farr II64,79122.83
Libertarian Terry Chadwick3,9371.39
Constitution Robert Rehbein1,3850.49
Total votes283,771 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2006 [26]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 141,574 72.89
Republican Mark J. Byrne47,89324.66
Libertarian Robb E. Cunningham4,7682.45
Total votes194,235 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2008 [27]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 242,570 86.86
Libertarian Robb E. Cunningham36,70013.14
Write-in votesDamien Johnson70.00
Total votes279,277 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2010 [28]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 37,041 81.25
Democratic Candice (Britt) Britton8,54618.75
Total votes45,587 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2010 [29]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 135,907 73.55
Republican Robyn Hamlin43,64923.62
Libertarian Julie Stone5,2232.83
Total votes184,779 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2012 [30]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 57,791 63.30
Democratic Russ Carnahan (incumbent)30,94333.89
Democratic Candice Britton2,5702.82
Total votes91,304 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2012 [30]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 267,927 78.67
Republican Robyn Hamlin60,83217.86
Libertarian Robb E. Cunningham11,8243.47
Total votes340,583 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2014 [30]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 119,315 72.98
Republican Daniel J. Elder35,27321.58
Libertarian Robb E. Cunningham8,9065.45
Total votes163,494 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2016 [30]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 56,139 62.64
Democratic Maria N. Chappelle-Nadal24,05926.85
Democratic (William) Bill Haas9,42210.51
Total votes89,620 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2016 [30]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 236,993 75.48
Republican Steven G. Bailey62,71419.97
Libertarian Robb E. Cunningham14,3174.56
Total votes314,024 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2018 [30]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 81,812 56.70
Democratic Cori Bush 53,25036.91
Democratic Joshua Shipp4,9743.45
Democratic DeMarco K. Davidson4,2432.94
Total votes144,279 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2018 [30]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 219,781 80.10
Republican Robert Vroman45,86716.72
Libertarian Robb E. Cunningham8,7273.18
Total votes274,375 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2020 [31]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Cori Bush 73,274 48.52
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent)68,88745.61
Democratic Katherine Bruckner8,8505.86
Total votes151,011 100.0

Personal life

Clay married his first wife, Ivie, in 1992, when he was a state senator. He filed for divorce in 2009. Ivie initially found out about the divorce "only through the media." Through her lawyer, she stated: "“I and my children are devastated and embarrassed that my husband let us find out from the children’s friends and the media that he had filed for divorce, and mostly that he still has not contacted our children. I would have wanted to prepare the children." The divorce was finalized in 2011. [32]

Clay later remarried and he and his wife, Patricia, reside in University City, in St Louis County, Missouri. He is the father of two children, Carol and Will III.

He is Catholic. [33]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Rebecca McDowell Cook. Official Manual: State of Missouri 1997-1998. p. 112.
  2. ↑ "Lacy Clay ancestry". Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  3. ↑ Sutin, Phil (November 3, 1983). "Clay's Son Runs for Legislature" . St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, MO. p. 3N – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Steichen, Girard C. (November 9, 1983). "W. L. Clay Jr. Wins Contest for House" . St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, MO. p. 4A – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "UPDATE: House Redistricting Committee Unveils Map". OzarksFirst.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  6. ↑ "Claire McCaskill on Twitter: "Ask Lacy Clay. He did it. We lost a Congressional District that was D and Lacy and Cleaver got safe districts in the process. Their decision.…"". 25 June 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-06-25. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "William Lacy Clay wins easily over Russ Carnahan". St. Louis Post-Dispatch . August 8, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Missouri – Summary Vote Results". August 8, 2012.
  9. ↑ Benchaabane, Nassim. "'We the people have the answers': Cori Bush defeats longtime Rep. Lacy Clay in Democratic primary". Stltoday.com. Ray Farris. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  10. ↑ "Membership". Congressional Black Caucus. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  11. ↑ "Caucus Members". Congressional Progressive Caucus. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  12. ↑ "Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  13. ↑ "Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  14. ↑ Marcos, Cristina (January 13, 2017). "Democrat re-hangs painting depicting cops as pigs". The Hill. Retrieved January 13, 2017. The painting has inflamed tensions on Capitol Hill between the two parties. The Hill asked Representative Cedric Richmond, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus if the painting needed someone to monitor it to prevent further removals. "No," Richmond replied. "We might just have to kick somebody's ass and stop them, though."
  15. ↑ Gangitano, Alex (April 26, 2017). "Clay Brings Controversial Constituent Painting to House Floor". Roll Call. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  16. ↑ Carey, Charles (2014). African-American Political Leaders. Infobase Publishing. p. 52. ISBN   9781438107806.
  17. ↑ "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 7". Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  18. ↑ "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 674". Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  19. ↑ See his opening statement in the video: "Hearing| Financial Services Committee | U.S. House of Representatives". Archived from the original on 2011-05-05.
  20. ↑ Panetta, Grace (December 18, 2019). "WHIP COUNT: Here's which members of the House voted for and against impeaching Trump". Business Insider. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Official Election Returns State of Missouri Primary Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State . Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  22. ↑ "Official Election Returns State of Missouri General Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State . Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Official Election Returns State of Missouri Primary Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State . Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Official Election Returns State of Missouri General Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State . Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  25. ↑ "Official Election Returns State of Missouri General Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State . Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  26. ↑ "Official Election Returns State of Missouri General Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State . Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  27. ↑ "Official Election Returns State of Missouri General Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State . Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  28. ↑ "Official Election Returns State of Missouri Primary Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State . Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  29. ↑ "Official Election Returns State of Missouri General Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State . Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Missouri Election Results Election Night Reporting". Missouri Secretary of State . Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  31. ↑ "State of Missouri - Primary Election, August 04, 2020". Missouri Secretary of State . Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  32. ↑ "Clay's divorce filing prompts messy back and forth". Stlpublicradio.org. 6 May 2009.
  33. ↑ Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. "Religious affiliation of members of 116th Congress" (PDF). Pewforum.org. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Missouri's 1st congressional district
2001–2021		Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Representative		Succeeded byas Former US Representative
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