Republican candidate Andrew Jones speaks at the mayoral forum hosted last Thursday at Harris-Stowe State University. Other candidates at the forum included Antonio French, Bill Haas, Tishaura Jones, Jimmie Matthews, Lewis Reed, and Jim Osher.
In St. Louis city politics, it’s easy to hallucinate. All you have to do is remember.
At the mayoral forum at Harris-Stowe State University last Thursday night, there was something reminiscent when Andrew Jones—a Republican businessperson running as an outsider—talked about his bid to become mayor.
At first glance, the premise and particulars seemed far-fetched. Jones filed January 5 for the office, just one day before the deadline; he's a virtually unknown businessman who’s never run for office; and he's a Republican. In St. Louis, that might typically mean strike three and he’s out. But given that this is 2017, the Chinese Year of the Rooster, and Donald J. Trump is in the White House, who knows what might happen.
Jones lives in Botanical Heights, though he was born and raised in East St. Louis. And although he's a public-utility executive in Illinois, there are no reports that he's a millionaire, much less a billionaire. In other words, he's no Trump.
The idea that Jones would emerge as a feasible choice for the general election by appealing to conservative white voters, if paired against an African-American “progressive” Democratic candidate, seems like a hypothetical whose time has passed. After all, it’s not 1997, when Clarence Harmon ran against Freeman Bosley Jr. Harmon went on to easily beat Bosley, the city’s first African-American mayor, but only received 5 percent of the vote four years later, when he lost to Francis G. Slay and Bosley finished second.
Although it’s unclear where Jones will finish this year, it’s probably not inside Room 200. The last Republican St. Louis mayor was Aloys P. Kaufmann, elected in 1943, the same year the Russians launched a counter-offensive against the German army in Stalingrad.
All the News That Fits—and Then Some
There are 40-odd days left before the primary, and there have been some decoy issues planted in media outlets with the expectation that the headlines can be used later for direct mail pieces.
On January 17, for instance, City Treasurer Tishaura Jones summoned the press to chastise them for recent news stories, including a recent KMOV segment about Jones' travels while in office. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch covered Jones' complaints and followed with an editorial on January 21 headlined "Bring the high-flying treasurer down to earth." Yet the editorial blew the lede, which stated that the "best thing" about her busy travel schedule was that it "can't leave her much time to drive her city-bought and maintained vehicle so there shouldn't be too many miles" on it at trade-in time. The trouble is, Jones gave up her city car months ago.
On KMOX, radio-show host Charlie Brennan cracked wise that if the treasurer went on 50 trips for $27,000, then she ought to give travel tips.
The St. Louis American defended Jones, pointing out that aldermen have expense accounts that they don't have to justify with receipts. (And yes, St. Louis American publisher Donald Suggs has contributed $25,000 to the Jones campaign, as reported here last month.)
Storming the Bastille
Thus far, any voter looking for a real debate over issues appears to be getting a diet of very thin soup. One issue that might be worthy of debate, though: the fate of the city’s medium-security prison on Hall Street, often called the “Workhouse.”
Jones has stated that she hopes to close the jail because of numerous violations and lawsuits and that it is ill-equipped to handle the majority of inmates, who are non-violent offenders, many of whom need mental-health services. She wants to find alternative ways to handle non-violent offenders.
At the 6th Ward Democratic meeting last Thursday, Alderwoman Lyda Krewson expressed misgivings about closing the Workhouse and rattled off several of the inmates' criminal offenses to the 30 or so in attendance. One inmate was arrested for murder; there were child abusers and several other violent offenders. The crimes she mentioned represented the minority of offenses for those housed there, but her point was that there was not a clearly defined alternative.
When asked about closing Hall Street at a mayoral closeup event at The Royale on January 9, Jones doubled down on her intent to close the jail. Her response got a positive reaction from the crowded bar, yet the topic did not surface at Harris-Stowe on January 19.
If this issue triggers a skirmish, it might go like this: In a city concerned about public safety (i.e. crime), closing a jail could be presented by opponents of Jones as a reckless thing to do. The flip side could be presenting the closure of Hall Street as part of the struggle against the “new Jim Crow” of mass incarceration, portraying opponents as closet conservatives who would rather lock 'em up than make sincere efforts to reduce recidivism and prevent further crime.
Taken to extremes, the conflicting stereotypes could be spun into a narrative of Marie Antoinette and her fellow travelers versus the sans-culottes revolutionaries taking to the streets, storming the Bastille. But there are stark differences, including that there were only about six prisoners in the Bastille, there was not a mayoral primary in Paris at the time, and St. Louis is not facing anything close to revolutionary change.
That said, arguing about crime's causes and consequences seems to have more substance than quibbling over expense accounts.
Lyda Krewson on the campaign trail
Retro Race Factors & Early Polling
Two early polls put Krewson in the lead, with the latest taken on January 17. That poll gave Krewson 27 percent of the 949 likely Democratic primary voters contacted. Aldermanic President Lewis Reed had 18 percent, Alderman Antonio French had 13 percent, Tishaura Jones had 9 percent, and Alderman Jeffrey Boyd had 3 percent. About 26 percent, were undecided. The margin of error was 3.16 percent.
Those trailing in the polls countered that the poll was conducted by dialing landline phones, which can skew results to the over-50 crowd. They also pointed to the significant amount of undecided voters and the weeks remaining before the primary.
In an earlier poll, taken January 7 and disseminated by Dave Drebes’ Missouri Scout publication, 39 percent of white voters and 6 percent of African-American voters supported Krewson. Reed was supported by 27 percent of African-American respondents and 11 percent of white respondents. French was supported by 4 percent of whites and 20 percent of African-Americans. And Jones was supported by 6 percent of whites and 10 percent of African-Americans.
Based on historic trends, the racial imbalance of candidates would seem to favor Krewson. State Rep. Bruce Franks, who co-hosted the Harris-Stowe forum, however, alluded on a January 14 Facebook post to the fact that socioeconomic status, including race and class, still play a key role in voting decisions.
When Will the Gloves Come Off?
Krewson did not appear at the Harris-Stowe event last Thursday. (She said she had four prior commitments that night, but promised to attend the February 22 forum, sponsored by the St. Louis American). That night, Alderman Antonio French called her a “TIF queen,” referring to the tax increment financing and other incentives that she has supported for new projects.
Looking toward Reed and Jones, French also said that he didn’t believe anyone else on the mayoral candidate panel would say anything critical about developer Paul McKee, implying they supported his NorthSide Regeneration project. No one on the panel took the bait, however, and most of the joint mayoral appearances have remained polite.
As the primary draws closer, the forums could grow more contentious, though. Certain issues—such as whether candidates supported public spending on the Rams' proposed stadium, whether they support increasing the sales tax for MetroLink, and what they plan to do about crime—could spark more friction.
This is the first of a weekly series of reports and analysis of the flotsam and jetsam unearthed on the campaign trail leading up to the mayoral primary, March 7, and the general election, April 4.
