51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Four years ago, Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones beat Alderwoman Cara Spencer in the mayor鈥檚 race with a coalition built on overwhelming support from north 51黑料 voters combined with comfortable spreads in progressive-leaning neighborhoods around Tower Grove Park.

In a rematch Tuesday night, Spencer handily flipped the south side neighborhoods that backed Jones in 2021 and ate into the mayor鈥檚 margins in north 51黑料.

The scale of Spencer鈥檚 support 鈥� 68% to the mayor鈥檚 33% 鈥� surprised even longtime politicos.

鈥淚t was an absolute blowout on Cara鈥檚 part,鈥� said former Aldermanic President James Shrewsbury, a Spencer supporter.

The city uses 鈥渁pproval voting鈥� 鈥� voters get to pick as many candidates in the primary as they like, with the top two advancing to the runoff 鈥� which is why candidates鈥� percentages add up to more than 100%.

The primary election Tuesday narrowed a field of four to Spencer and Jones, who will go head-to-head on April 8. And it provided a strong signal of the swing away from Jones in several critical south 51黑料 wards and softening support among her base in north 51黑料.

The dynamics of the race could change next month. Turnout was low 鈥� about 10,000 fewer people voted in Tuesday鈥檚 election than the 44,500 who did in March 2021. Turnout could be higher in April after another month of get-out-the-vote efforts combined with more aldermanic races and a contentious school board election on the ballot to draw voters.

Turnout was especially low in north 51黑料, hovering just over 11% in most wards there. That was several percentage points below the turnout in those neighborhoods four years ago.

鈥淎 lot of (north 51黑料ans) didn鈥檛 like any of the candidates so they didn鈥檛 go to the polls,鈥� said Spencer supporter David Jackson, who lives near Calvary Cemetery on the north side and is affiliated with the African American Business and Contractors Association.

But the voters who did come out threw more support to Spencer than four years ago. She was able to boost her support significantly in the north side wards, growing it from a meager 10% to 15% in most neighborhoods four years ago to over 30% Tuesday.

鈥淐ara has been campaigning tough and hard in north 51黑料,鈥� Jackson said.

Jones鈥� support collapsed among voters in several south side neighborhoods, particularly high-turnout areas of Shaw and Tower Grove South, which formed a critical chunk of the mayor鈥檚 coalition in 2021. (The number of wards was reduced from 28 to 14 since the last election, making direct comparisons difficult.)

In the 6th Ward that encompasses the two neighborhoods, Jones won just 37% support, while Spencer garnered almost 72%.

Spencer, who originally built her political brand as a progressive, had some support in those areas already. In the 2021 March primary, Spencer won support from 60% of voters in the old 8th Ward covering Shaw, and 61% of voters in the old 15th Ward covering Tower Grove South.

But Jones still won more support in March 2021, taking 68% in Shaw and 70% in Tower Grove South. And the next month, when voters were forced to choose between Spencer and Jones, the two neighborhoods north and south of Tower Grove Park fell in behind Jones. The old 8th Ward, Shaw, went for Jones over Spencer by 15 points. Tower Grove South backed the mayor by 17 points in April 2021.

Debi Pratt, who is the past president of the Tower Grove Neighborhood Association and was involved with the old 15th Ward Democratic Party organization, said voters this year are focusing on trash and potholes 鈥� 鈥渢hings they can point to鈥� but that challenge every mayor. But Pratt said Jones, who she still supports, is a 鈥渓ong-term鈥� mayor focused on transforming neglected areas of north 51黑料, which was a change in tone from the 20 years prior to Jones鈥� election.

鈥淚 think people really, really wanted change,鈥� Pratt said of the neighborhood鈥檚 electorate four years ago. 鈥淚 think people didn鈥檛 see change fast enough. That kind of change takes decades to make.鈥�

Another Tower Grove South resident, Andrew Arkills, said there does seem to be disillusionment with basic city services like trash collection, potholes and traffic enforcement. Others are disappointed in the political class in general as they watch bickering over the use of federal pandemic aid, Rams settlement money and homeless outreach and shelter beds.

鈥淩ightly or wrongly, as the most visible politician in the city, Mayor Jones is catching a lot of that flack,鈥� said Arkills, a former Tower Grove South neighborhood association president.

The January snowstorm is also fresh on people鈥檚 minds, he added.

鈥淭he dysfunctional and grossly inadequate response to the early January snowstorm, and the fact that it took nearly two weeks for them to even salt some side streets, pissed a lot of people off,鈥� he said.

Alderwoman Sharon Tyus of Kingsway East, who noted she endorsed Jones last election, said north 51黑料ans are angry about the same things the rest of city residents are upset about: trash, potholes, vacant buildings. She said she expected the support Spencer received in the primary will hold in April.

鈥淚 think they are going to vote for a candidate that will address their needs,鈥� Tyus said. 鈥淭his is not about Black or white, this is about if you will address the issues in 51黑料.鈥�

There has been a common theme, Tyus said, between the complaints from her north side constituents and progressives she鈥檚 spoken to recently.

鈥淭hey feel just like Black people do,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he mayor let them down.鈥�