Race for St. Louis' Board of Aldermen Presidency Reveals a City Cut in Thirds

Two hours before the final election results revealed a sweeping victory for the political status quo in St. Louis, challenger Jamilah Nasheed was feeling confident. Absentee votes put her down just handful of points to the three-term incumbent president of the Board of Aldermen, Lewis Reed.

It is just after 7:30, and attendees to Nasheed's campaign party are just starting to file into the chandelier-lit Mahler Ballroom. Upstairs, the Democratic state senator from St. Louis takes a break from greeting supporters to do some trash talk.

"I don’t think Lewis has anybody that energized to come out and vote for him," she notes nonchalantly. "So I think he may come in third."

It's bold to jab at a politician like Reed, whose place as aldermanic president was never seriously threatened in the twelve years before yesterday's election, let alone in a three-way race like the one. Nasheed, a popular legislator used to winning elections for the General Assembly, collected more than $500,000 in campaign contributions to unseat Reed and dubbed him "Lyin' Lewis" while blasting the results of his long tenure in city government. (The feeling was mutual, as Reed had called her "Double Agent Nasheed" while accusing her of working on behalf of Rex Sinquefield.)

Read more: https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2019/03/06/race-for-st-louis-board-of-aldermen-presidency-reveals-a-city-cut-in-thirds