最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� A big fundraising edge and Mayor Cara Spencer鈥檚 endorsement in her home ward helped power Jami Cox Antwi to a resounding victory in Tuesday鈥檚 special election to fill a vacant seat on the Board of Aldermen.

Final unofficial returns showed Antwi, a banker, with more than 55% of the vote in the five-way 8th Ward race. Her nearest competitor, business analyst Shedrick Kelley, got about 18% of the vote.

The results were a big win for Spencer and a setback for Aldermanic President Megan Green, who backed Kelley.

Further behind were candidates Jim Dallas, Alecia Hoyt and Cam McCarty, who got 14%, 10% and 2% of the votes, respectively. The aldermanic seat has been vacant since Spencer gave it up when she became mayor in April.

鈥淐ara鈥檚 doing a great job and I think her endorsement carries a lot of weight,鈥� city Democratic chairman Sean Fauss, who was a strong supporter of Kelley鈥檚 candidacy, said Wednesday.

The fundraising advantage, Fauss said, allowed Antwi to get her message and Spencer鈥檚 endorsement across to voters.

Antwi, 29, also was endorsed by the area鈥檚 main business lobby group, Greater 最新杏吧原创 Inc.

Antwi鈥檚 campaign committee raised more than $53,000. In addition, a committee tied to Greater 最新杏吧原创 and a National Association of Realtors fund spent about $12,000 and more than $23,000, respectively, to promote Antwi鈥檚 candidacy.

Kelley鈥檚 campaign raised about $9,800. That was supplemented by direct expenditures of nearly $31,000 on his behalf by Green鈥檚 political committee, including an infusion of $10,270 on Monday, according to finance reports filed with the state.

Antwi said she was grateful that the ward鈥檚 residents trusted her to be their next alderwoman and that she doesn鈥檛 take their trust lightly.

鈥淚 know I have a lot to do and a lot to learn,鈥� she said in an interview at her election night party at Molly鈥檚, a bar-restaurant in Soulard.

She added that she has various ideas 鈥渁bout what I think 最新杏吧原创 needs鈥� but that she realizes those ideas need to be informed by the public.

Spencer, who also was at the event, said she backed Antwi and urged her own supporters and campaign donors to do the same because Antwi was a great candidate and 鈥渙ur values align.鈥�

She added that Antwi is well-informed on issues affecting both downtown, much of which is in the ward, and the ward鈥檚 neighborhoods.

Kelley, 44, is the ward鈥檚 Democratic committeeman and was backed by the area AFL-CIO鈥檚 umbrella organization in addition to Green. He had run twice before for alderman. In 2023, he tried to unseat Spencer but was eliminated in a three-way primary.

Green said in a telephone interview that it was hard for Kelley 鈥渢o overcome the endorsement鈥� of the ward鈥檚 popular former alderwoman.

Green said she had supported Kelley previously and that it was natural that she would do so this time and that it wasn鈥檛 due to any competition with the mayor.

Green said it would be more accurate to characterize the race as between a corporate-backed candidate and a labor-supported candidate.

Spencer declined to comment on how Tuesday鈥檚 results related to her and Green鈥檚 relative political standing.

Dallas, 63, is a retired insurance executive and former president of a Soulard neighborhood association.

Hoyt, 46, owns a photography studio and is a volunteer coordinator with a nonprofit women鈥檚 group focused on outdoor recreation.

McCarty, 37, is a wireless network systems consultant.

Dallas raised more than $11,000, Hoyt about $9,000 and McCarty about $1,330.

The ward stretches from downtown southward along the Mississippi River to a small part of the Carondelet neighborhood.

Although Kelley was picked by the city Democratic Central Committee as the Democratic nominee, his party designation and that of Libertarian Party nominee McCarty were left off the ballot by the city Election Board.

Antwi, Dallas and Hoyt all are Democrats who gathered signatures on petitions to qualify as independent candidates.

The final unofficial vote totals were 1,070 for Antwi, 352 for Kelley, 278 for Dallas, 195 for Hoyt and 40 for McCarty.