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City elections in St. Louis, Missouri (2023)
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| 2023 St. Louis elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: December 27, 2022 (college board) & January 6, 2023 (aldermen) |
| Primary election: March 7, 2023 General election: April 4, 2023 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: Board of aldermen and community college board |
| Total seats up: 16 |
| Election type: Nonpartisan |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2023 |
The city of St. Louis, Missouri, held general elections for the Board of Aldermen on April 4, 2023. All 14 seats on the board and the seat of the president of the board were up for election. Eleven incumbents, including Board President Megan Ellyia Green, won re-election. Three incumbents were defeated.
The 2023 election was the first to take place under a new ward system that reduced the number of seats on the board from 28 to 14. Voters approved Proposition R, a charter amendment requiring the size reduction, in 2012, and the board enacted a new 14-ward map in 2021.[1]
Ahead of the election, KDSK’s Sam Clancy and Mark Maxwell wrote, “For more than a century, 28 members of the Board of Aldermen governed the City of St. Louis. Those days are almost over.”
“Ward reduction changes have been in the making for more than a decade after voters approved the plan back in 2012. "Aldergeddon" has already claimed casualties. A handful of incumbents opted not to seek re-election, shying away from a sharp-elbowed brawl against their colleagues to prolong their political career and others were defeated in the primary,” Clancy and Maxwell said. [2]
As a result of the reduction in board size, ten incumbents did not seek re-election in 2023.[3] Additionally, two wards—Ward 13 and Ward 4—featured incumbent vs. incumbent races.
The three incumbents who lost were:
- Joe Vaccaro (the incumbent in Ward 23): Vaccaro lost to fellow incumbent Bret Narayan (Ward 24) 55% to 45% in the election for the new Ward 4.
- Norma Walker (Ward 22): Walker lost to incumbent Pamela Boyd (Ward 27) 54% to 46% in the election for the new Ward 13.
- Tina Pihl (Ward 9): Pihl lost to Washington University staffer Michael Browning 63% to 36% in the election for the new Ward 9.
Per Proposition R, candidates elected in odd-numbered wards in 2023 would serve an initial two-year term and be eligible to run for four-year terms after that. Candidates elected in even-numbered wards would serve four-year terms. The president of the Board of Aldermen, a separate position elected at large, would also serve a four-year term.[4][1]
Another initiative affecting the 2023 election, Proposition D, was approved by voters in 2020. The measure made elections open and nonpartisan for the offices of mayor, comptroller, president of the Board of Aldermen, and the Board of Aldermen. The measure also changed the primary election system from plurality voting to approval voting, a voting system in which voters may vote for any number of candidates they choose. Nonpartisan primaries were held on March 7, 2023, and the top two candidates in each primary advanced to a general election.
The Board of Aldermen is St. Louis' equivalent of a city council. It's the city’s primary legislative body, responsible for adopting the city budget, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances. The President of the Board is responsible for presiding over board meetings.
St. Louis also held a nonpartisan general election for a seat on the community college board on April 4, 2023. Nicole Robinson defeated Incumbent Pam Ross in that election. The filing deadline for that election was Dec. 27, 2022.
This page covers the April 4, 2023 general election. For coverage of the March 7, 2023 primaries, click here.
Elections
Click on the tabs below to show more information about those topics.
Candidates and results
Offices up for election in 2023:
Board of aldermen
General election
St. Louis Board of Aldermen general election 2023 | |
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| Office | Candidates |
| St. Louis Board of Aldermen President |
 Megan Ellyia Green (i) |
| Ward 1 |
Anne Schweitzer (i) Tony Kirchner |
| Ward 2 |
Thomas Robert Oldenburg (i) Phill Menendez |
| Ward 3 |
Shane Cohn (i) |
| Ward 4 |
Bret Rajiv Narayan (i)  Joseph Vaccaro Jr. (i) |
| Ward 5 |
Joseph Vollmer (i) Helen Petty |
| Ward 6 |
Jennifer Florida Daniela Velazquez |
| Ward 7 |
Jon-Pierre Mitchom Alisha Sonnier |
| Ward 8 |
Cara Spencer (i) Kenneth Ortmann |
| Ward 9 |
Tina Pihl (i)Michael Browning |
| Ward 10 |
Shameem Clark Hubbard (i) Emmett L. Coleman III |
| Ward 11 |
Laura Keys (i) Carla Wright |
| Ward 12 |
Sharon Tyus (i) Tashara Earl |
| Ward 13 |
Pamela Boyd (i) Norma Walker (i) |
| Ward 14 |
Rasheen Aldridge Ebony Washington |
Primary election
Special district offices
St. Louis Community College Board of Trustees
General election
General election for St. Louis Community College Board of Trustees Subdistrict 2
Nicole Robinson defeated incumbent Pam Ross in the general election for St. Louis Community College Board of Trustees Subdistrict 2 on April 4, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Nicole Robinson (Nonpartisan) | 49.7 | 9,323 | |
| Pam Ross (Nonpartisan) | 48.9 | 9,181 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.4 | 255 | ||
| Total votes: 18,759 | |||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Missouri elections, 2023
April 4, 2023
- St. Louis Public Schools, Missouri, elections (2023)
- DeBaliviere Place Special Business District, Missouri, Proposition, Property Tax Measure (April 2023)
- St. Louis, Missouri, Proposition C, Charter Amendment (April 2023)
- St. Louis, Missouri, Proposition, Marijuana Sales Tax Measure (April 2023)
August 8, 2023
November 7, 2023
What was at stake?
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About the city
- See also: St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city located in Missouri. It was at one time the county seat of St. Louis County, but voters chose to separate from the county and form an independent city in 1876.[5] As of 2020, its population was 301,578.
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of St. Louis uses a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.
Demographics
The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.
| Demographic Data for St. Louis, Missouri | ||
|---|---|---|
| St. Louis | Missouri | |
| Population | 301,578 | 6,154,913 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 61 | 68,745 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White | 46.4% | 81.3% |
| Black/African American | 45.7% | 11.4% |
| Asian | 3.4% | 2% |
| Native American | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% | 0.1% |
| Other (single race) | N/A | 1.3% |
| Multiple | 3.1% | 3.5% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 4.1% | 4.3% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate | 88.7% | 90.6% |
| College graduation rate | 37.2% | 29.9% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income | $45,782 | $57,290 |
| Persons below poverty level | 20.4% | 13% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020). | ||
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
2023 battleground elections
- See also: Battlegrounds
This election was a battleground race. Other 2023 battleground elections included:
- Louisiana gubernatorial election, 2023
- Mayoral election in Nashville, Tennessee (2023) (August 3, 2023 general election)
- New Hampshire House of Representatives District Rockingham 1 special election, 2023
See also
| St. Louis, Missouri | Missouri | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 St. Louis-Mo Gov, "Redistricting FAQ," accessed February 5, 2022
- ↑ ‘’KDSK,’’ “This is who won the races for St. Louis' new, consolidated board of aldermen,” April 4, 2023
- ↑ The St. Louis Board of Aldermen will look much different after spring elections, "St. Louis NPR," January 6, 2023
- ↑ St. Louis-Mo Gov, "City of St. Louis Redistricting 2021," accessed February 5, 2022
- ↑ St. Louis County Library, "The 1876 St. Louis City / County split and its effect on research," accessed December 18, 2014
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