Michael Browning
St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 9
Tenure
Term ends
Years in position
Predecessor
Elections and appointments
Personal
Contact
Michael Browning is a member of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen in Missouri, representing Ward 9. He assumed office on April 18, 2023. His current term ends on April 17, 2029.
Browning ran for re-election to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to represent Ward 9 in Missouri. He won in the general election on April 8, 2025.
Biography
Michael Browning was born in Illinois. He earned a bachelor's degree from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2011. Browning has served as vice president of the Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood Association and outreach director for the St. Louis Young Democrats.[1]
Elections
2025
See also: City elections in St. Louis, Missouri (2025)
General election
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Michael Browning advanced from the primary for St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 9.
Endorsements
Browning received the following endorsements.
2023
- See also: City elections in St. Louis, Missouri (2023)
General election
Nonpartisan primary election
| St. Louis uses approval voting, where voters may cast ballots for any number of candidates. A candidate's Approval Percentage is the number of votes cast for the candidate as a percentage of all votes cast. Under this system, the two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the general election. |
Nonpartisan primary for St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 9
|
Candidate |
% |
Votes |
 |
Michael Browning (Nonpartisan) |
49.75% |
1,007 |
| |
Tina Pihl (Nonpartisan) |
43.28% |
876 |
| |
Michael Gras (Nonpartisan) |
42.89% |
868 |
| Incumbents are bolded and underlined. |
Total votes: |
2,751 |
| Source: St. Louis certified primary results, 2023 The results have been certified. |
Endorsements
To view Browning's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Browning in this election.
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Michael Browning did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
2023
Michael Browning completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Browning's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a Senior Grant Specialist for Washington University’s Ophthalmology Department. Born in Alton, Illinois and raised in the Metro East, Michael graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with a B.A. in Political Science. I previously served as Treasurer and Vice President of the Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood Association, as well as Outreach Director of the St. Louis Young Democrats. I live in Forest Park Southeast with my wife, Sarah, and our two rescue dogs, Izzy and Yadi, and our rescue cat, Stan.
I first fell in love with Saint Louis for its architecture, charming neighborhoods, and excellent food scene, but I believe that a city’s most valuable assets are not its buildings or streets. St. Louis’ best asset is its people. I am running to improve people’s everyday lives in our city. This means supporting tenants’ rights, road safety, infrastructure reform, and being responsive. There used to be a time where you could call your alderperson for help, and they would show up for you. I’m running to show up for the people of the Ninth Ward and the people of Saint Louis.
- I’m the candidate who cares most about this work, and will always show up for you. My campaign is knocking more doors than anyone else in the city because I care about meeting people where they are.
- I can get things done in our community—and I have the track record to prove it. As Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood Association Vice President, I helped organize community events including trash clean-ups and our National Night Out. When a developer with a terrible reputation brought a proposal to our area, our current alderperson told our association that if we didn’t facilitate community engagement ourselves, it “wouldn’t get done at all.” I arranged a venue, planned the engagement process, and researched the developer. I knocked over 1,200 doors to get people out to community meetings, informed my neighbors, wrote an opinion piece in NextSTL, and testified at the Preservation Board hearing, who unanimously denied the permit.
- My platform is about real, achievable solutions to problems St. Louisans see and feel every day. From our streets to the quality of our buildings, and a passion for renters rights, I am fighting to improve the everyday lives of our people.
Featured local question
Yes. The pandemic exposed or widened the cracks in our system. Issues like homelessness and reckless driving have gotten worse. The policies in my platform are aimed at addressing these issues, with approaches like tenant’s rights and traffic calming infrastructure.
Featured local question
Violent crime rates have been decreasing, but our city still feels and is in many ways unsafe. We also know that crime is often underreported, and that crimes are not properly labeled: For example, a biker hit by a car might be labeled as an automobile accident only, rather than an auto-cycling crash, making it difficult to track how many bikers are hit by cars every year. I would again support pushing our city to reimagine and redesign public safety. I am in favor of improving data collection by the police, so that we can understand what is happening in our city and address it.
Featured local question
Even though I am not running for alderperson in a ward that includes downtown, I believe that the success of downtown is vital for the entire region. I am committed to working closely with community partners in realizing a dynamic downtown that is built for the 21st century.
With the shift towards working from home that occurred during the pandemic, downtown has an incredible opportunity to become the dense, walkable environment that is missing from much of the St. Louis region. Downtown has major entertainment options, mass transit, and many great businesses. By adding more residents to the mix, we can have more eyes on the streets and more foot traffic to the stores and restaurants. Converting empty office buildings into apartments is just the start. We can build more housing, redesign the downtown street grid to prioritize pedestrians and bicyclists, and connect downtown to the rest of the city with multi-use paths and the removal of unnecessary highway infrastructure.
By focusing on downtown infrastructure, we can also deter drag racing and reckless driving that has increased since the pandemic. Featured local question
Effective community engagement is incredibly hard. Communicating around development projects, important legislation, general ward updates all may require different approaches. Reaching out to residents is not a one-size fits all strategy. As an alderperson, I would work hard to engage people with non-traditional work hours, Disability and differing levels of ability, and technological access. The only way to reach that goal is through differentiating outreach: employing newsletters, building and neighborhood meetings, social media, door-to-door canvassing, and tapping into community structures to make sure messages reach people where they are.
Featured local question
They should be handled promptly and without charge. We can also just make things as accessible as possible so they don’t have to be sunshined in the first place. I am in favor of the recent bill that was just passed that requires SLDC to record and post their meetings. We should have that for all city boards and departments.
Featured local question
St. Louis has work to do when it comes to public safety. Almost everyone in our city can talk about a personal experience that they have had with crime, and it motivates many to move out of the city or not come here at all. I am focused on addressing public safety if I am elected as alderperson.
We need to have difficult discussions in order to move forward as a region. We can talk about increasing pay for police but that ignores the larger issue: we are competing within our own region on this subject. Instead of competing with Chicago and Memphis for police officers, we are competing with St. Louis County and the many municipalities of the region. We should be exploring ways to consolidate policing and fire districts that use centralized dispatch.
While the work is ongoing to identify ways we can move forward as a region, we have ways we can strengthen public safety at the city level. In 2022, the Center for Policing Equity presented a report called Reimagining Public Safety in St. Louis. It included several good ideas like:
Supplementing officers with city personnel. We do not need fully-trained officers to take traffic incident reports for fender benders; we need them to focus on homicides, carjackings, assaults, and other pressing crimes. We can help officers be more effective if we stop using them as a catch-all for every single issue in the city.
Establishing a review process for body-worn camera footage.
Improving data collection of vehicle and pedestrian stops.
Strengthening SLMPD policy on Taser and pepper spray use.
During my time talking to people in the 9th Ward, I have heard that these are policies most residents want. Our highest priority should be to save lives and keep everybody safe: officers and civilians. That will be my priority as alderperson.
Enforcement is important, but prevention is better. The greatest indicator of criminal activity is poverty. If we want to address the root of crime, we need to implement anti-poverty measures. This means increasing the quality of SLPS education and bolstering affordable housing. One in four SLPS students are unhoused or housing insecure, which significantly increases the likelihood that they will become involved with the criminal justice system. Our residents should feel safe and secure in their homes. A Tenant’s Bill of Rights and an Office of the Tenant Advocate would help raise the standard of living in St. Louis, which will prevent crime. Featured local question
In 2021 and 2022 in my capacity on the Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood Association, I helped organize community events including beautification efforts, trash clean-ups, and coordinating our National Night Out. When a developer with a terrible reputation brought a proposal to our area, our current alderperson told our association that if we didn’t take up the task of facilitating community engagement, it “wouldn’t get done at all.” We therefore took it upon ourselves to do just that: I arranged a venue, planned the engagement process, and got to work researching the developer. The things I found, from building quality to the dismal treatment of tenants, got worse and worse. I informed my neighbors, wrote an opinion piece in NextSTL, and by the time the engagement process ended, our community made the decision not to support the development. I testified at the Preservation Board hearing, who unanimously denied the permit.
This experience helped me hone my beliefs about the need for community engagement. There is a way to have development in St. Louis that is strengthened by community input but not unnecessarily burdened by red tape and roadblocks. With good communication and clear expectations, we can encourage the type of development that strengthens and uplifts communities rather than displaces them. Development should not impinge on communities, it should be for our communities. This experience has also given me the experience of community organizing and outreach for ward development that is a crucial obligation for an alderperson. I would like to spearhead the creation of a citywide planning department that conducts this community engagement with the assistance of the alderperson.
Featured local question
I’ve knocked on thousands of doors, in neighborhoods all over the region, and the policies in my platform are derived from what I heard at the doors of the Central West End, Forest Park Southeast, and King’s Oak, but not just in the Ninth Ward. I’ve also knocked throughout the city in neighborhoods like Dutchtown, Hamilton Heights, Princeton Heights, and Wells-Goodfellow.
I will continue knocking on doors to stay in touch with my community, and I will also, of course, attend community meetings, send newsletters, respond to email and phone calls, and use social media. It’s important to meet people where they are in order to really listen to your community, and it is the community that shapes my policy.
Featured local question
I agree with our mayor that we need to reimagine public safety, and I support the progress that the current administration has made via programs like CURE Violence. I would like to facilitate the concept of making sure that the right person responds to the right call, and I will work to address the root causes of crime.
Featured local question
In order to improve health outcomes and mitigate the effects of environmental racism, we need to move towards a car-optional culture. A North-South Metrolink line is just the start. We should explore the adoption of a zero-fare system within city limits for buses and trains, similar to Kansas City and Pittsburgh. We should explore a Rapid Bus Transit system with dedicated bus lanes, which is a far cheaper alternative than new MetroLink lines. But all of this requires a bus system that is dependable. Many bus routes make a stop at a certain intersection once every ninety minutes, which is not accessible or user-friendly. We need to fix the system before we spend millions to expand it. It is also necessary to improve infrastructure around bus stops. In 2021, 45% of pedestrian fatalities occurred within 200 feet of a bus stop. If it isn’t safe to get to and from public transit, people cannot or will not use it.
We need to address bike and pedestrian safety as public transit issues, as they are alternatives to driving and are accessible to everyone if done right. According to TrailNet, in 2021, 178 people were killed and more than 14,000 people injured in traffic crashes in St. Louis City and County. We need to have protected bike lanes with dividers separating them from auto traffic (not just an arrow painted on a regular lane of traffic) and designated bike paths. Paint doesn’t protect people, and reckless drivers will ignore it. Additional infrastructure like single-lane roundabouts, speed tables, raised crosswalks and more have been shown to increase pedestrian safety and provide further protection. Divided roads with pedestrian islands have also been shown to increase safety, so when we rebuild intersections, we can add in these proven measures that save lives.
Additionally, we should be powering our city with renewable technology—Not only is this better for the environment, it’s the right economic decision. We can have cost savings by generating our own energy. We can increase security and independence by not relying on the grid system, keeping our city running more smoothly, especially as climate crisis-related blackouts increase. I would like to see solar on government buildings. I’ve also spoken with voters at their doors that have complained that they would like to have solar panels but are unable to install them due to “no visibility” provisions in historic housing, even if the solar has no impact on the structural preservation of the home. Many people who would like to have solar or other renewable energy, like geothermal, are unable to afford to do so. I would like to revisit the provisions and introduce city subsidies for rooftop solar to make renewable energy more accessible for Saint Louisans.
We need more city parks and nature. We know that increased greenery decreases pollution, mitigates flooding, and has physiological and mental health benefits. Increased tree canopy also counters the urban heat island effect. High-wealth, disproportionately white neighborhoods have, on average, 65% more canopy coverage than low-wealth, disproportionately Black and brown neighborhoods. Heat causes more deaths than any other extreme weather event, and Saint Louis regularly hits triple-digits in the summer, which is only getting worse with the climate crisis. According to Tree People, a nonprofit, Black and Latine people are more likely to die after five days of extreme heat than white people. Los Angeles has taken an approach of appointing a city forest officer, whose job is specifically to increase tree canopy in marginalized neighborhoods by 50% in a few years. Tree equity is more than beautification, it has a direct impact on the quality of Saint Louisans’ day to day lives. In conjunction with this increase in tree coverage, we can push for more urban gardens and farms, which can also help address food deserts and hunger.
Featured local question
If I had to pick a single issue, it would be infrastructure. How we move around our city impacts every single part of our lives. We have a city built around cars instead of a city built around people, but it wasn’t always this way. We need to design St. Louis around those that live here, not just vehicles. Infrastructure is about accessibility, equity, and justice. When we design our roads, sidewalks, and trails for the most vulnerable road users, we make them safer for everyone to use.
Pedestrian infrastructure is accessible to everyone and cheaper to maintain. Great infrastructure decreases the need to drive to your destination, which decreases the need for parking, which is also expensive to build. The future of St. Louis City is walkable communities connected by public transit and expansive greenways. Sidewalks are part of that critical network. Everyone uses sidewalks, even if they’re just walking to and from their car. The city’s neglect of our sidewalks sends an unfortunate message to our people; that we don’t care about their experience in our city. Fully funding and staffing our sidewalk repair program is vital to a thriving St. Louis.
To address infrastructure in a way that will have a long-term impact, we need a complete overhaul of the ward capital system. Beyond the system’s inequitable distribution of funds, the city needs a comprehensive plan managed by a planning department that has expertise in this subject. Alderpeople are not city managers. We shouldn’t have to elect a traffic engineer or a planner to make the correct infrastructure decisions. Even if an alderperson can do this job, it doesn’t mean they should. Our current ward capital system creates non-contiguous, patchy, poorly maintained infrastructure. We can celebrate passing ordinances like Complete Streets, but until we address how such a program is actualized, we will continue to fall short in creating demonstrable changes.
I need to reiterate that it is imperative that we address the pipeline of how decision-making occurs. We had 2 cyclist and 18 pedestrian deaths in St. Louis city last year, and almost ten times as many injuries. We had dozens of driver deaths and thousands of motorist injuries. We can build roads that actually work for us and keep us safe through roundabouts, protected bike lanes, raised pedestrian crossings, reflective pavement markers, medians with pedestrian islands, etc. Repaving roads—which is badly needed—is just the start.
We just passed Prop 1 last year, a $160 million bond measure for infrastructure improvements, as well as ARPA and Rams settlement funds, which I would like to see support infrastructure needs. We need to have sustained investment in infrastructure that persists beyond these windfalls and devote a larger proportion of our general funds toward infrastructure, especially pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, to make sure our city is safe and well-maintained. Featured local question
1. Supplementing officers with city personnel. We do not need fully-trained officers to take traffic incident reports for fender benders; we need them to focus on homicides, carjackings, assaults, and other pressing crimes. We can help officers be more effective if we stop using them as a catch-all for every single issue in the city.
2. Establishing a review process for body-worn camera footage.
3. Improving data collection of vehicle and pedestrian stops.
4. Strengthening SLMPD policy on Taser and pepper spray use.
Featured local question
I support the city's use of masking. We saw statistically significant differences in infections and mortality rates between the city and county when we had masks mandates and they did not. WashU conducted a study that showed that mask mandates in Saint Louis saved lives. Especially important, Covid has disproportionately marginalized the Disabled community, and increased masking allowed Disabled people to more safely move about in public spaces than they would have otherwise. I still wear my mask when I can.
Tenants’ Rights. Whether you pay a mortgage or rent, your home is your home, and you deserve to live somewhere safe and affordable. We need to pass a Tenants’ Bill of Rights, establish an Office of the Tenant Advocate, create a Rental Registration Program, and increase the number of building inspectors to ensure that code violations are solved. Housing justice is also racial justice, as Black St. Louisans rent at nearly twice the rate of white St. Louisans and are twice as likely to be severely rent burdened.
Infrastructure reform. Due to aldermanic courtesy and ward capital, we have 14 different wards with 14 different development processes, and if an alderperson lacks city planning understanding or is simply unresponsive, development can be completely derailed. We should not have alderpersons managing city planning: We need a fully staffed, fully funded citywide planning department. This will lead to greater equity, more community engagement, and a streamlined, predictable development process in St. Louis.
Safe roads and transit, especially for cyclists and pedestrians. I support a North-South MetroLink, but we must also prioritize MetroBus. We need raises for drivers and operators to help with retention and reverse the course of the removal of bus routes and stops. We need more roundabouts, protected bike lanes, reflective pavement markers, raised pedestrian crosswalks, and other built safety measures. I’d also like to explore incentives for SLPS to offer drivers’ ed. After the federal government cut funding for cities in the 1980s, Saint Louis saw major personnel cuts that forced alderpersons to take on responsibilities well outside the purview of what an alderperson typically does. Unlike other cities, we have alderpersons that act as mini city managers, rather than just legislators that conduct constituent services. This situation is uniquely detrimental to constituents and the city, and if elected, I will work to move Saint Louis toward a citywide planning department, rather than levying these responsibilities on alderpersons. We also have the unique circumstance of being one of the most progressive cities in one of the most conservative states in the entire country, with the state government continually undermining the autonomy of Saint Louis and our residents. The juxtaposition of city and state make it even more important to have strong leadership in the city, with alderpersons who are committed to effectively shielding residents from our state’s oppression.
I try not to put anyone on a pedestal. We’re all human, and it’s good to acknowledge that we all have flaws and shortcomings, but also things that make us great. I respect anyone who displays incredible moral courage in the face of adversity, especially when they are standing up for others. We can all be that person.
“Walkable City: How Downtown can save America, One Step at a Time” by Jeff Speck
Responsiveness, good communication skills, and selflessness.
I work well with other people, even if we disagree, and always achieve a positive outcome.
Again, responsiveness, but also a willingness and eagerness to learn. It takes humility to understand that you may not know everything and to be willing to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them.
A city that is gaining population
The flood of ‘93. I was almost 5 years old, and I remember my parents taking me down to the water’s edge in Elsah, IL. I saw fish swimming between houses, and remember being jealous that my brother (then 10 years old) got to help with the sandbagging effort in Alton. I wanted to help too, and didn’t understand why I couldn’t at that age.
When I was 14, I started working as a waiter during the summers. I did this until I was 18. I held various part-time jobs while I was in college, including serving as the assistant to an attorney in the City of Bloomington, IL Legal Department. My first full-time job was a Customer Service Representative at a start-up company that made sport earphones. I held that job for almost two years, taking on more responsibilities, including doing analytical work for the Operations team, before I moved to Washington University, where I have worked in grant administration for the last 9 years.
There are way too many books to have a favorite book.
Spiderman. Great power, great responsibility. Also looks like lots of fun.
There is no one in the city that is tasked with going around and looking for things that are wrong. So if you see a pothole, a street light that is out, a damaged dumpster, large amounts of trash or debris, or anything else that is wrong, contact the Citizens Service Bureau through their website or by Twitter (@STLCSB) and tell them the problem, how long it has existed, and the address. Bonus points if you include a picture. Help fix our city!
I think it is important to have been in a position with at least some interaction with our city government offices. Whether it is serving on the board of your neighborhood association, or being involved with one of the many groups in our city that do community work, it is important to understand the value of service to your community. I served as Treasurer, and then Vice President of my neighborhood association in Forest Park Southeast. I organized trash cleanups, community events, and led community engagement around a large development in my neighborhood. By doing these things, I met people in city government, learned about the processes and committees, and became familiar with how the city works.
It is important to be pragmatic and reasonable, but confident in your core values. The most important skill you can have in public office is the ability to work with others and reach a positive outcome, even in areas of stark disagreement. Public office should not ever be a selfish endeavor. It is a position of service.
A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that the teller's name is Patricia Whack. So he says, "Ms. Whack, I'd like to get a loan to buy a boat and go on a long vacation."
Patti looks at the frog in disbelief and asks how much he wants to borrow.
The frog says $30,000.
The teller asks his name and the frog says that his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's OK, he knows the bank manager.
Patti explains that $30,000 is a substantial amount of money and that he will need to secure some collateral against the loan. She asks if he has anything he can use as collateral.
The frog says, "Sure. I have this," and produces a tiny pink porcelain elephant, about half an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed.
Very confused, Patti explains that she'll have to consult with the manager and disappears into a back office.
She finds the manager and says "There's a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000. He wants to use this as collateral." She holds up the tiny pink elephant. "I mean, what the heck is this?"
The bank manager looks back at her and says: "It's a knick knack, Patti Whack. Give the frog a loan. His old man's a Rolling Stone" I have been endorsed by the Saint Louis Young Democrats, Pro Choice Missouri, and State Representative Kimberly Ann Collins, and Former 28th Ward Regular Democratic Club President Ann Kittlaus so far.
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See also
External links
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 25, 2023
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
