Voters in St. Louis’ 8th Ward will choose among five candidates to replace Mayor Cara Spencer on the Board of Aldermen.
Filing for the July 1 special election closed Friday. The 8th Ward includes part or all of 13 neighborhoods, including Downtown, Soulard and Near North Riverfront.
The candidates are:
- Cam McCarty, a network engineer and a member of the Missouri National Guard. He ran unsuccessfully for a state House seat in 2024. McCarty lives in the Benton Park neighborhood.
- Jim Dallas, a retired corporate vice president and past president of the Soulard Restoration Group. Dallas lives in Soulard.
- Jami Cox Antwi, who works on financing for low-income housing and new market tax credits at US Bancorp. She ran unsuccessfully for a state House seat in 2024. Antwi lives in the McKinley Heights neighborhood.
- Shedrick Kelley, an artist and business analyst at Wells Fargo. He twice ran unsuccessfully for the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. Kelley lives in the McKinley Heights neighborhood.
- Alecia Hoyt, a photographer and activist. Hoyt lives in the Benton Park neighborhood.
Although McCarty had filed to run as a Libertarian, and the city’s Democratic Central Committee officially endorsed Kelley, the ballot contains no partisan labels. Chair Sean Fauss said the committee planned to sue the city to include party labels.
Whoever is elected will serve the remainder of Spencer’s term, which runs until April 2027.
