ST. LOUIS — Mark Kummer, an entrepreneur and political newcomer, filed to run for aldermanic president on Friday, the last day to sign up for the special Sept. 13 primary called to fill the vacancy in the office.
If city election officials verify he turned in signatures of at least 1,175 registered voters, he will be on the ballot along with Aldermen Megan Green and Jack Coatar.
A city Election Board director, Gary Stoff, said Kummer submitted petition pages with more than 2,000 names. Green and Coatar’s petitions were verified previously.
Kummer, 44, of the Compton Heights area, is the former president of a freight broker and trucking company. He says he is a political independent; Green and Coatar are both Democrats.
But no party affiliation will be listed for the candidates because the balloting will be carried out under the nonpartisan approval voting system enacted in 2020.
The office has been vacant since longtime board president Lewis Reed resigned last month after pleading not guilty to federal corruption charges.
Residents at the September primary can vote for as many candidates as they approve of. The two leading vote-getters will advance to a runoff at the Nov. 8 general election.
The winner will serve the final five months of Reed’s term. The next four-year term in the office will be filled at the regular city election next April, preceded by a primary in March.
