Readers Think Slay Will Be Elected To Fourth Term As Mayor in 2013
Last week readers indicated, in the weekly poll, that current 3-term mayor Francis Slay would be elected to a fourth term in office:
Q:Â Who do you think will be elected St. Louis Mayor in 2013?
- Francis Slay 86 [46.74%]
- Lewis Reed 42 [22.83%]
- Other answer… 16 [8.7%]
- Unsure/no opinion 12 [6.52%]
- Michael McMillan 10 [5.43%]
- One of the 28 aldermen 6 [3.26%]
- Darlene Green 4 [2.17%]
- Bill Haas 3 [1.63%]
- Greg Daly 3 [1.63%]
- Sharon Carpenter 1 [0.54%]
- Maida Coleman 1 [0.54%]
No St. Louis mayor has ever been elected to four 4-year terms.  The last to run for a fourth term, Raymond Tucker, lost in March 1965 to Alfonso J. Cervantes.
The other answers provided by readers were:
- Rex Sinquefeld
- Jeanette Mott-Oxford
- whoever wins the dem mayoral primary
- Rex Sinquefield
- steve patterson 🙂
- You?
- Nelly
- Rainford
- TERM LIMITS: We desperately need them in the city; city is doomed if no change
- I think Lewis Reed should be elected mayor, but how should i know if he will?
- Douglas Duckworth
- Shane Cohn
- Anyone but Bill Haas!
- I HOPING anyone but FS. Time is up.
- Who are these people? None are a Daley or Giuliani. or even John Nations
- Antonio French
Prior to my February 2008 stroke I was plotting a run for mayor  — around 2019 at the age of 52.  I don’t see it happening now, physically or mentally.  I could see both Shane Cohn & Antonio French running for mayor at some point — but not 2013.
My prediction is Francis Slay will not seek a fourth term. Â Given the budget issues facing the city he may want to escape before it gets too ugly. Â Aldermanic President Lewis Reed’s leadership will be tested next year during redistricting. Â When I asked Reed if he was running in 2013 he said he is focusing on 2011. Â He didn’t say he wasn’t going to run. Â I think Slay won’t but Reed will. Â I don’t see McMillan running either, he is not a fan of contested races.
I think Lewis Reed will be elected the 46th mayor of St. Louis. Â I’m not saying that is what I necessarily want to have happen, just how I see it going at this point. Â But a lot can happen in two plus years.
– Steve Patterson
St. Francis it is then. No real worries, though. He's no more mediocre or unimaginative than any other mayor of the last sixty or so years. Same goes for Lewis Reed. Two different sides to the same coin. Bring on the boring, I say! Now, this Antonio French fellow, that's another story. If the City wants to move forward during the 21st century, it will need a young man of good character and integrity to lead it. From what little I have seen of Mr. French, I find myself wishing that he didn't have to do the bullshit “come up through the system” dance required of pols in this backwater, one horse town. Why waste time with tired and cynical has-beens from a dead machine, Mr. French? Go for it. Or, in the words of a great American: Damn the torpedoes, and full speed ahead!
I'm not a fan of the “come up through the system” attitude either. That said, it does take some time to get to the point where you can win a city-wide election. Unlike Reed, Ald French would have to decide running for another term as alderman or for mayor.
There are some advantages to coming up through the system, not the least of which is knowing how the city actually works, the nuts and bolts of government. Idealism and vision are great alternatives to traditional machine politics, but politics is also all about the art of the possible. Changing or fixing “what's broke” takes understanding why it is the way it is, why it's not working (well), what the alternatives are and how to pay for any changes as a part of a larger, limited budget. It also takes building coalitions, with other elected officials, with employee groups and with constituent groups.
Mayor Slay, Ald. Reed and Ald. French all fit the bill and any of them would (continue to) do a good job for the city. I also agree that the city is going to be facing some (more?) significant budget challenges over the next few years. Whether or not it's Slay will have less to do with the size of the challenge than it will with other, better, opportunities becoming available outside the mayor's office. For the other two, it would definitely be a step up . . . .
Thanks for the lecture…again.
Lecture? What lecture? I was pretty much agreeing with you. I like Ald. French, but I view him as a part of the machine, albeit a newer part.
French pissed off the machine by kicking out an established candidate by a rather wide margin. He hasn't done a 180 like some. I don't see him speeding through streetlights in limos, but rather doing a lot of good things for his ward in relation to quality of life. Give him some credit where due.
One, I like Antonio, and could easily support him. And two, I guess the intent of my comments hasn't been clear. What I'm trying to say is that political experience outside of city government (state legislature, school board, etc.) doesn't do nearly as good a job of preparing for you to be mayor as does serving on the Board of Aldermen, Tax Collector, etc.
I was with you until you described St Louis as a backwater, one horse town. I'm live here, am proud to live here, and think we are so much more than what you describe.
However, I agree with you about tired of the cynical machine. I can't imagine being happy with any of those on the list of Steve's list of options. Bring on someone with a “glass half full” mentality to govern our great city!
Slay won't run? Are you kidding? He has more than a million in the bank and ambition of equal size. Deflect the budget to the economic downturn. He's Teflon.
I hope Mayor Slay sees the Arch grounds refurbishment all the way through.
Many reasons why the City's past decade has been what it has been, but frankly, I couldn't see it realistically going much better than it has. And things could have been worse during M Slay's time in office.
Sometimes the best thing a mayor can do is get outta the way and let a City's people do whatever it is they do best.