ST. LOUIS ELECTS ITS FIRST BLACK WOMAN AS MAYOR
Tishaura Jones became the first Black woman elected mayor of St. Louis on Tuesday and later this month will begin leading a city racked with a high homicide rate, disturbances at the city jail and challenges related to the pandemic.
Jones, the city’s treasurer, received about 52 percent of the vote over opponent Alderwoman Cara Spencer’s nearly 48 percent, according to unofficial results posted to the city’s website. Jones will be sworn in April 20.
Spencer, also a Democrat, conceded Tuesday night and later congratulated Jones on Twitter, saying, “You have my support in making St. Louis the great city we know it can be.”
This was the first mayoral election under the city’s new election-law overhaul, known as Proposition D. It requires candidates to run without partisan labels, and the two candidates with the most votes in a primary in March would face each other in a general runoff election the next month.
Jones pledged that she would not stay silent when she saw racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia or religious intolerance, adding, “I will not stay silent when I spot any injustice.”
Jones has spent the past 20 years as a public servant. In 2002, she was appointed as Democratic committeewoman in the city of St. Louis, she served two terms in the Missouri House of Representatives and she has served as the city’s treasurer since 2013, according to her campaign website. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2017.
“It’s time for St. Louis to thrive,” Jones said Tuesday night. “It’s time to bring a breath of fresh air to our neighborhoods.”