This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 5, 2013 - St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay appears to be on his way to becoming the city’s longest-serving chief executive, after winning Tuesday’s Democratic primary over his chief rival, Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed.
With all of the ballots counted, Slay led with 54.4 percent of the vote to Reed's 44.3 percent. But the margin was only about 4,500 votes; Slay collected 23,968 votes to Reed's 19,494 votes. Former Alderman Jimmie Matthews finished a distant third, with only 575 votes.
"I can't tell you how pleased I am," Slay said Tuesday night during his acceptance speech. "We won, we won....This was a relentless team."
Slay, 57, is seeking his fourth four-year term, a quest that only a couple of his predecessors have sought, and none achieved.
His contest with Reed and Matthews, 67, had gotten nasty in recent weeks, but Slay had benefited from a huge financial advantage.
Still, the fact that Reed got 44 percent of the vote, despite being outspent more than 4-to-1, might give Slay and his allies something to ponder.
(Update) Although Slay said he was waiting until Thursday to formally launch his general election campaign, his campaign did release its first general election ad online Wednesday aimed at sealing the deal. The ad obviously had been produced earlier, reflecting his allies' private confidence in Slay's chances against Reed. (End of update)
Slay said in his acceptance speech that he wasn't prepared yet to outline what he would do during the next four years. But the mayor did pledge to work to improve the city.
"As always, I do not take the people of St. Louis for granted,'' Slay said.
If he wins, the mayor said, he is committed "to make St. Louis city cleaner, healthier, safer, more fun, better educated, and just a better place for more people....A more inclusive place."
The mayor now faces Green Party nominee James E. McNeely in the April 2 general election. Barring any unexpected developments, the mayor is heavily favored.
But Slay had sought to play down that fact Tuesday night, one of the reasons he opted against holding the traditional “victory party” for the primary. Campaign manager Richard Callow said the mayor will hold a celebratory gathering instead on April 2.
Tuesday night, Slay watched returns privately with friends, family and staff at the Dubliner, a restaurant on Washington Avenue. The avenue’s renaissance as a downtown entertainment district has been a centerpiece of Slay’s economic successes during his 12 years in office.
Reed, meanwhile, gathered with allies at the Carpenters Hall, 1401 Hampton Ave. Reed, 50, will continue as president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen; his term continues until April 2015.
Reed had told the Beacon earlier Tuesday, after casting his own vote, that he was convinced voters agreed with him that not enough had been done to tackle crime and lack of jobs -- the two issues that he believed were the most important for city officials to tackle.
"I think we did a tremendous job of getting our message out,'' Reed said.
The only other citywide post on Tuesday’s ballot was St. Louis comptroller, where longtime incumbent Darlene Green faced no primary opposition. She now will compete against Green Party candidate Jerome Bauer.
Credit given to 'scratchers'
Despite the poor weather, 22 percent of the city's registered voters turned out. That's slightly above the 20 percent predicted by the St. Louis Election Board.
Reed had hoped for a strong turnout of city voters, particularly in predominantly African-American wards.
The turnout from southwest St. Louis also indicates that at least some Republicans showed up to vote in the Democratic primary -- a common occurrence in recent decades. No Republican had filed for mayor, comptroller or most of the aldermanic seats.
Those GOP voters were assumed to favor Slay, whose family long has been a prominent player in politics in southwest St. Louis, home of most of the city's small Republican enclaves.
Slay's campaign manager Richard Callow largely credited the Slay camp’s success in getting its known supporters to the polls. Using phone banks and other methods, the campaign had identified Slay’s most ardent supporters last June, Callow said.
Although the mayor spent more than $1 million on TV ads and fliers, Callow cited the campaign’s field staff in getting those identified supporters to the polls on Tuesday.
Volunteers at each polling place on Tuesday had an electronic list of people expected to turn out for the mayor. The volunteers, known as “scratchers,’’ scratched off the name of each identified voter as he or she showed up at the polls.
The campaign had three phone banks to contact people who hadn’t voted and also had teams going door to door, targeting the voters on the pro-Slay list.
Results a 'referendum' on Slay's performance
Dave Robertson, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said that Slay’s victory shows “quite a remarkable success’’ of forging and retaining long-term political coalitions.
“It means that he has a warrant to go forward with his style of management and continue to emphasize his priorities,’’ Robertson said.
Those priorities have included gaining control of the city’s police department, which has been under state oversight for 151 years, and in using his office as a “bully pulpit’’ to force changes and improvements in the city’s public schools, which have been troubled for decades.
Assuming he wins April 2, Slay and his administration will take control of the police department on July 1, as a result of a statewide vote last November. Slay has ignited some tensions with the rank and file within the police and fire departments, over his efforts to rein in the rising costs of their pensions plans, which he says cannot be sustained.
Ken Warren, a political science professor at St. Louis University, said that Tuesday’s mayoral primary was “a referendum on (Slay’s) tenure as mayor.”
Warren said he believed that St. Louis voters recognized that the city had problems, but that they also believed that Slay was not to blame. Reed apparently failed to convince enough of them that he could do better, Warren added.
Slay's victory, said Warren, “certainly would give him the confidence to go forward with the policies that he’s pursued in the past.”
