# 2021 St. Louis mayoral election

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The 2021 St. Louis mayoral election occurred in two stages, with a unified primary on March 2, 2021, and a two-candidate general election on April 6, 2021. The election was the first in the nation to use approval voting for a primary. Incumbent Democratic mayor Lyda Krewson was eligible to seek re-election to a second term in office, but chose to retire.
In a primary field of four candidates, St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones and Alderwoman Cara Spencer advanced to the general election. Jones defeated Spencer in the general election by nearly 4% of votes cast, becoming the first African-American woman elected to the office of mayor.

## Background

In 2017, then-St. Louis alderwoman Lyda Krewson was elected mayor, becoming the first woman to do so. However, in late 2020, she announced that she would not seek re-election to a second term, despite being eligible to run. Krewson cited her age as the primary reason for her retirement, saying: "I am now pushing 70. So after a lot of thinking and a lot of discussion with my family, I decided to retire in April and not run for re-election." Krewson had faced criticism during her term for her perceived mishandling of Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020, with numerous demonstrations outside the mayor's home and calls for her to resign. Krewson was also facing a primary challenge from Jones and Spencer, both of whom launched their campaigns for mayor before Krewson announced her retirement. However, Krewson denied that these factors had any influence on her decision not to seek re-election.
Some also speculated that Proposition D, a ballot measure passed by St. Louis voters with 68% of the vote in November 2020, would have made it more difficult for Krewson to survive a primary challenge. Proposition D altered St. Louis elections so that they would use a new electoral process. The old system used partisan primaries with first-past-the-post voting. Since 2021, all candidates for municipal elections in St. Louis instead compete in a single nonpartisan primary using approval voting, and the two candidates with the highest vote total advanced to the general election. Krewson opposed Proposition D, while Jones supported it.

## Candidates
### Candidates who advanced to the general election

| Candidate | Experience | Party preference | Ref |
| Tishaura Jones | Treasurer of St. Louis (2013–2021) Former Assistant Minority Floor Leader of the Missouri House of Representatives (2011–2013) Former state representative (2009–2013) Candidate for mayor in 2017 | Party preference: Democratic (Website) | |
| Cara Spencer | St. Louis alderwoman for the 20th ward (2015–present) | Party preference: Democratic (Website Archived January 24, 2021, at the Wayback Machine) | |

### Candidates eliminated in the primary

| Candidate | Experience | Party preference | Ref |
| Andrew Jones | Utility manager Nominee for mayor in 2017 | Party preference: Republican (Website) | |
| Lewis E. Reed | President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen (2007–2022) Candidate for mayor in 2013 and 2017 | Party preference: Democratic (Website Archived January 13, 2021, at the Wayback Machine) | |

#### Disqualified

* Keith Jefferson, small business owner
* Lassaad Jeliti, restaurateur
* Dana Kelly, restaurateur (party preference: Democratic)

#### Declined

* Gregory F. X. Daly, St. Louis Collector of Revenue (party preference: Democratic)
* Lyda Krewson, incumbent mayor (2017–present) (party preference: Democratic)

## Primary election

In a primary field of four candidates, St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones and Alderwoman Cara Spencer advanced to the general election. The two women defeated President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen Lewis E. Reed as well as utility manager Andrew Jones.

### Endorsements

Organizations
* St. Louis Police Officers Association
Federal officials
* Ayanna Pressley, U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district (2019–present), member of the Boston City Council (2010–2019)
* Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (2013–present)
State officials
* Rasheen Aldridge Jr., Missouri State Representative (2019–2023)
* LaKeySha Frazier-Bosley, Missouri State Representative (2019–present)
* Karla May, Missouri State Senator (2019–present), Missouri State Representative (2011–2019)
Mayors
* Stephen K. Benjamin, Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina (2010–2022)
* Melvin Carter, Mayor of Saint Paul (2018–present)
* Michael Hancock, Mayor of Denver (2011–2023), member of the Denver City Council (2003–2011)
* Lee Harris, Mayor of Shelby County, Tennessee (2018–present), Tennessee State Senator (2015–2018), member of the Memphis City Council (2011–2015)
* Quinton Lucas, Mayor of Kansas City (2019–present)
* Steven Reed, Mayor of Montgomery (2019–present)
* Frank Scott Jr., Mayor of Little Rock (2019–present)
* Michael Tubbs, Mayor of Stockton (2017–2021)
* Randall Woodfin, Mayor of Birmingham (2017–present)
Local officials
* Wesley Bell, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney (2019–present)
* Sam Page, St. Louis County Executive (2019–present), member of the St. Louis County Council (2014–2019), Missouri State Representative (2003–2009)
Individuals
* Roland Martin, journalist
* Blake Strode, civil rights lawyer and former professional tennis player
Organizations
* Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
* Communication Workers of America
* Democracy for America
* EMILY's List
* NARAL Pro-Choice America
* Organization for Black Struggle
* People for the American Way
* The People for Bernie Sanders
* Planned Parenthood
* Service Employees International Union
* The St. Louis American
* Working Families Party
* Young Democrats of St. Louis
Federal officials
* Lacy Clay, U.S. Congressman for Missouri 1st District
Local officials
* Tom Oldernburg, Saint Louis Alderman, Ward 16
* Shameem Clark Hubbard, Saint Louis Alderwoman, Ward 26
* John Collins-Muhammad, Saint Louis Alderman, Ward 21
Organizations
* The St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board
* United Food and Commercial Workers
Mayors
* Vincent C. Schoemehl, Mayor of St. Louis (1981–1993)
Organizations
* Planned Parenthood
* The St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Andrew Jones | Tishaura Jones | Lewis Reed | Cara Spencer | Undecided |
| Remington Research (R)/Missouri Scout Archived February 15, 2021, at the Wayback Machine | February 3–4, 2021 | 501 (LV) | ± 4.4% | 19% | 51% | 59% | 40% | — |
| Show Me Victories (D) | January 5–8, 2021 | 732 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 5% | 28% | 30% | 11% | 27% |

### Results

Tishaura Jones and Cara Spencer advanced to the general election. Because the primary election was conducted using approval voting (and voters had the opportunity to mark their approval of more than one candidate), the numbers in the "Approval percentage" row add up to more than 100 percent.
March 2, 2021
Primary election results :
| | Tishaura Jones | Cara Spencer | Lewis E. Reed | Andrew Jones |
| Party preference: | Democratic Party | Democratic Party | Democratic Party | Republican Party |
| Votes of approval: | 25,388 | 20,659 | 17,186 | 6,428 |
| Approval percentage: | 56.96% | 46.35% | 38.56% | 14.42% |
| Total vote cards cast: 44,571 |||||

## General election

At the general election on the evening of Tuesday, April 6, 2021, Tishaura Jones defeated Cara Spencer to earn her first term as mayor of St. Louis, winning by over two thousand votes. This constituted nearly 4% of the people that voted that evening.

### Polling

Leading up to the early April election, over 20% of voters told pollsters that they were undecided.
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Tishaura Jones | Cara Spencer | Undecided |
| Show Me Victories (D) | March 25–28, 2021 | 650 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 42% | 37% | 21% |
| Show Me Victories (D) | March 4–6, 2021 | 550 (LV) | ± 4.2% | 40% | 35% | 25% |
| Remington Research (R)/Missouri Scout | March 3–4, 2021 | 544 (LV) | ± 4.4% | 43% | 37% | 20% |

### Results

Tishaura Jones defeated Cara Spencer by a 4% margin. Jones' margin of victory largely came from Northern St. Louis, while Spencer was stronger in the south. Jones received her largest margins in wards where Lewis Reed had come second in the primary.
2021 St. Louis mayoral general election results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Nonpartisan | Tishaura Jones | 30,166 | 51.70 |
| | Nonpartisan | Cara Spencer | 27,865 | 47.75 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 319 | 0.55 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 58,237 | 100.00 |

#### Results by Ward

| Ward | Tishuara Jones | Tishuara Jones | Cara Spencer | Cara Spencer | Write-in | Write-in | Total Votes |
| Ward | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Total Votes |
| Ward 1 | 1262 | 84.13 | 229 | 15.27 | 9 | 0.6 | 1500 |
| Ward 2 | 1043 | 79.14 | 269 | 20.41 | 6 | 0.46 | 1318 |
| Ward 3 | 940 | 80.48 | 223 | 19.09 | 5 | 0.43 | 1168 |
| Ward 4 | 1124 | 87.13 | 158 | 12.25 | 8 | 0.62 | 1290 |
| Ward 5 | 990 | 72.21 | 376 | 27.43 | 5 | 0.36 | 1371 |
| Ward 6 | 1673 | 60.18 | 1097 | 39.46 | 10 | 0.36 | 2780 |
| Ward 7 | 1165 | 44.08 | 1459 | 55.20 | 19 | 0.72 | 2643 |
| Ward 8 | 1981 | 57.34 | 1462 | 42.32 | 12 | 0.35 | 3455 |
| Ward 9 | 1134 | 50.92 | 1079 | 48.45 | 14 | 0.63 | 2227 |
| Ward 10 | 883 | 35.95 | 1559 | 63.48 | 14 | 0.57 | 2456 |
| Ward 11 | 603 | 38.48 | 957 | 61.07 | 7 | 0.45 | 1567 |
| Ward 12 | 576 | 20.41 | 2213 | 78.42 | 33 | 1.17 | 2822 |
| Ward 13 | 791 | 32.67 | 1610 | 66.50 | 20 | 0.83 | 2421 |
| Ward 14 | 679 | 38.65 | 1071 | 60.96 | 7 | 0.40 | 1757 |
| Ward 15 | 1692 | 58.57 | 1188 | 41.12 | 9 | 0.31 | 2889 |
| Ward 16 | 693 | 18.17 | 3081 | 80.76 | 41 | 1.07 | 3815 |
| Ward 17 | 1217 | 51.74 | 1130 | 48.04 | 5 | 0.21 | 2352 |
| Ward 18 | 1165 | 77.36 | 337 | 22.38 | 4 | 0.27 | 1506 |
| Ward 19 | 1006 | 73.43 | 359 | 26.20 | 5 | 0.36 | 1370 |
| Ward 20 | 651 | 54.07 | 543 | 45.10 | 10 | 0.83 | 1204 |
| Ward 21 | 1451 | 85.20 | 249 | 14.62 | 3 | 0.18 | 1703 |
| Ward 22 | 869 | 84.37 | 161 | 15.63 | 0 | 0.00 | 1030 |
| Ward 23 | 983 | 28.53 | 2435 | 70.66 | 28 | 0.81 | 3446 |
| Ward 24 | 871 | 34.41 | 1644 | 64.95 | 16 | 0.63 | 2531 |
| Ward 25 | 716 | 58.74 | 495 | 40.61 | 8 | 0.66 | 1219 |
| Ward 26 | 1585 | 78.78 | 419 | 20.83 | 8 | 0.40 | 2012 |
| Ward 27 | 1263 | 84.26 | 231 | 15.41 | 5 | 0.33 | 1499 |
| Ward 28 | 1160 | 38.68 | 1831 | 61.05 | 8 | 0.27 | 2999 |