City of St. Louis: Presidential Primary By The Numbers

Last Tuesday was Missouri’s presidential preference primary.

More than 1.5 million Missourians voted in Tuesday’s presidential preference primary. That is up from about 1.4 million, the state’s previous record, set in 2008. Overall turnout hovered at 39 percent of registered voters, up from about 36 percent in 2008, the last time Republicans and Democrats had divided contests to decide.

Those trends were repeated in the St. Louis area, where turnout surged in St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson counties. St. Louis County turnout topped 45 percent, higher than the state average.

The trend did not hold in St. Louis, where turnout and ballots cast were slightly under the 2008 levels. (Post-Dispatch)

In the City of St. Louis, we know that Hillary Clinton & Donald Trump were the winners in their respective parties citywide. Is that it? After digging into the breakdown of the 28 wards, the election was more nuanced.

CITYWIDE

• Registered Voters: 181,167
• Ballots Cast: 76,729
• Turnout: 42.2%
• Percent Democrat/Republican: 81.8%/18%
• Democrat:
  • Clinton 34,458 (55.01%)
  • Sanders 27,748 (44.30%)
  • Others
• Republican:
  • Trump (36.35%)
  • Cruz (32.41%)
  • Kasich (18.49%)
  • Others

WARDS (PDF map from City or Scribd)

Top 5 Most Democratic/Least Republican:

1. 4th (99.1%)
2. 22nd (98.9%)
3. TIE: 1st & 27th (98.8%)
4. 21st (98.2%)

Top 5 Most Republican/Least Democratic:

1. 16th (42.4%)
2. 12th (40.7%)
3. 23rd (36.6%)
4. 13th (30.4%)
5. 24th (30.0%)

Top 5 Registered Voters

1. 23rd 8,052
2. 16th 7,974
3. 27th 7,779
4. 12th 7,360
5. 21st 7,327

Bottom 5 Registered Voters:

1. 20th 5,296
2. 18th 5,324
3. 25th 5,352
4. 19th 5,380
5. 5th 5,408

Top 5 Voter Turnout

1. 8th (55.8%)
2. 16th (54.0%)
3. 28th (52.3%)
4. 23rd (51.5%)
5. 15th (48.4%)

Bottom 5 Voter Turnout

1. 3rd (31.1%)
2. 4th (31.3%)
3. 1st (31.4%)
4. 20th (32.2%)
5. 22nd (32.4%)

CANDIDATES

Top 5 Wards won by Clinton — percentage

1. 27th (76.31%)
2. 21st (74.09%)
3. 2nd (73.41%)
4. 1st (73.18%)
5. 22nd (72.64%)

Note: Clinton won 16 wards, Sanders won 12

Top 5 total votes for Clinton

1. 27th (2,016)
2. 21st (1,953)
3. 6th (1,676)
4. 28th (1,633)
5. 26th (1,574)

Top 5 Wards won by Sanders — percentage

1. 24th (65.04%)
2. 15th (60.01%)
3. 13th (59.67%)
4. 8th (58.56%)
5. 10th (58.02%)

Note: Sanders won 12 wards, Clinton won 16

Top 5 total votes for Sanders

1. 8th (2,014)
2. 15th (1,643)
3. 24th (1,518)
4. 23rd (1,485)
5. 6th (1,333)

Top 5 Wards won by Trump — percentage

1. 11th (51.47%)
2. 20th (49.37%)
3. 12th (43.74%)
4. 10th (42.87%)
5. 25th (42.37%)

Note: Trump won 13 wards, came in 2nd in 12, 3rd place in 3

Top 5 Wards won by Cruz — percentage

1. 2nd (48.94%)
2. 27th (48.39%)
3. 1st (47.62%)
4. TIE 4th & 21st (44.44%)

Note: Cruz won 13 wards, came in 2nd in 12, 3rd place in 3

Two Wards won by Kasich — percentage

1. 28th (36.46%)
2. 17th (29.12%)

Two wards where Ksasich placed 2nd — by percentage

1. 19th (28.57%)
2. 26th (26.74%)

Note: Kasich finished in 3rd in the remaining 14 wards.

You can download my spreadsheet to see the detail (Numbers | Excel), based on unofficial citywide & ward by ward results.

Graphic below made by others, click to view more:

No real surprises: Clinton won North City, Sanders won South city. Southwest City has the highest percentage of Republicans.

— Steve Patterson

Local Propositions on April Ballott, Filing Period Still Open for August Primary

We just finished a primary, but election season continues — switching now to local & state issues/races.

Filing is still open for offices like city Circuit Attorney, Sheriff, Treasurer, and party committeeman & committeewoman. The last day to file is Tuesday March 29th, it opened in late February. Here is a summary of the filings, as of March 14th (list obtained March 16th):

• Circuit Attorney: four (4) seeking the Democratic nomination, Jennifer Joyce is not seeking another term.
• Sheriff: five (5) seeking the Democratic nomination, One (1) seeking the Republican nomination.  Jim Murphy is not seeking another term.
• Treasurer: One (1) candidate filed for the nomination in each of the following parties: Democrat, Republican, Green.  Tishaura Jones is seeking a 2nd term.

Committeeman/Committeewoman, which are filled for each party in each ward in August, is a great way to get involved in the political process. As of March 14th filing report, the following are the only ones with 2 or more Democratic candidates:

• Committeeman, Ward 1
• Committeewoman, Ward 1
• Committeeman, Ward 3
• Committeewoman, Ward 3
• Committeeman, Ward 6
• Committeeman, Ward 7
• Committeeman, Ward 8
• Committeewoman, Ward 8
• Committeeman, Ward 9
• Committeeman, Ward 10
• Committeewoman, Ward 10
• Committeeman, Ward 11
• Committeewoman, Ward 14
• Committeeman, Ward 19
• Committeeman, Ward 20
• Committeewoman, Ward 20
• Committeeman, Ward 23
• Committeeman, Ward 26
• Committeeman, Ward 27

The other Committeeman/Committeewoman seats in the Democratic party either had zero or one candidate as of March 14th.

Republicans have one candidate for Committeeman in each of the following Wards: 7th, 8th, 16th,  & 23rd.  Greens have one candidate for Committeeman in each of the following Wards: 8th, 20th, 24th, 26th, 28th; Committeewoman in: 20th. Again, the above is all based on the March 14th filing report.

St. Louis has 28 wards. Following the 2020 Census, the number of wards will be cut in half.

The following are the five items on the April 5th ballot, see official sample ballot:

PROPOSITION F

Absentee voting on the above issues began on the 14th! The first is easy — we must continue the earnings tax for at least another five years. I need to give more thought to the other four.

In addition to April & August, some are already preparing to run for Alderman next March — odd-numbered wards are up for reelection.

— Steve Patterson

Readers Strongly Opposed To Possible Missouri “Religious Freedom” Constitutional Amendment

In August 2004 Missouri voters approved a state constitutional amendment that barred legal recognition of same-sex marriages, it passed with 71% support. This was ruled unconstitutional in June 2015 when the US Supreme Court ruled states cannot ban same-sex marriages. Eleven years.

Some view LGBT rights as an affront to their religion:

In 1993, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. Originally, the federal law was intended to apply to federal, state, and local governments. In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court in City of Boerne v. Flores held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act only applies to the federal government, but not states and other local municipalities within them. As a result, 21 states passed state RFRAs before 2014.

In 2014, the United States Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. recognizing a for-profit corporation’s claim of religious belief. Nineteen members of Congress who signed the original RFRA stated in a submission to the Supreme Court that they “could not have anticipated, and did not intend, such a broad and unprecedented expansion of RFRA”. The members further stated that RFRA “extended free-exercise rights only to individuals and to religious, non-profit organizations. No Supreme Court precedent had extended free-exercise rights to secular, for-profit corporations.” Following this decision, many states have proposed expanding state RFRA laws to include for-profit corporations, including in Arizona where SB 1062 was passed but was vetoed by Governor Jan Brewer in 2014. (Wikipedia: Religious Freedom Restoration Act)

Which brings us to Indiana’s 2015 Religious Freedom Restoration Act:

After the law passed on March 26, 2015, reaction was swift, strong and negative, with cancellations of planned events and business expansions, travel bans and denunciations from across the spectrum: companies including Salesforce, Apple, Eli Lilly and Angie’s List; sports leagues including the NCAA, NBA and WNBA; states and municipalities coast to coast; rock concerts; comedy shows and church groups. (Forbes: Indiana’s Religious Freedom Act Cost Indianapolis $60 Million In Lost Revenue)

And now the Missouri legislature wants to join the cause, which will cost its two biggest and liberal cities. Kansas City & St. Louis.

Should either SB 916 or SJR 39 become law, Missouri could experience the same kind of backlash as Indiana. Expect cancellations of conventions in St. Louis and Kansas City. Businesses worried about protecting their reputations would put expansion plans on hold in Missouri. Lawsuits would ring down like thunder. (Post-Dispatch Editorial: The no-catering-gay-weddings issue comes to Missouri)

Thankfully the readers here are strongly opposed to such measures, from the Sunday Poll:

Q: Missouri is one step closer to having a “religious freedom” constitutional amendment on a ballot. Support or oppose such an amendment?

• Strongly support 5 [10.2%] Note: one reader says he voted for this by mistake, wanted “Strongly oppose” instead.
• Support 1 [2.04%]
• Somewhat support 0 [0%]
• Neither support or oppose 2 [4.08%]
• Somewhat oppose 0 [0%]
• Oppose 4 [8.16%]
• Strongly oppose 37 [75.51%]
• Unsure/No Answer 0 [0%]

If it clears the last vote in the legislature Gov Nixon can’t veto it — he can only decide if placed on the August or November ballot.

— Steve Patterson

Please Vote Today

Today is presidential primary day in Missouri, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina. As you vote today you’ll see names of people who’ve dropped out of the race, plus names you’ve never heard of before — plus “uncommitted.”

The St. Louis sample ballot lists:

• Democratic ballot: 10 choices
• Republican ballot: 13 choices
• Constitution ballot: 1 choice
• Libertarian ballot: 6 choices

In the two main parties: Missouri has the least delegates to win today — Florida has the most.

In the February 5, 2008 primary St. Louis had 181,317 registered voters, with 77,911 ballots cast (42.97%).  Much higher than turnout for local elections but still pretty low.

In the 2008 general election the turnout was:

• Jefferson County: 72.2%
• St. Charles County: 77.2%
• St. Louis City:  61.4%
• St. Louis County: 69.6%

The lowest turnout in Missouri was 52.7% (Reynolds County), the highest was St. Louis County’s 77.2%. Overall the Missouri turnout was 69.4%.

Please vote!

— Steve Patterson

Contents Of Blue Bag: Purse, Lunch, or ?

You might recall a post from last August where I showed a driver had been repeatedly placing a blank parking ticket on his vehicle, and a parking enforcement officer placing a large blue bag in the rear seat. If not, see Parking Enforcement Officer Kept Putting A Blue Bag In A Vehicle Displaying A Fake Ticket.

Many were curious about the situation and contents of the bag. Even though I was threatened by the owner of the Ford Edge, the police refused to do anything — they turned it over to the Treasurer’s office who oversees parking. The Treasurer’s office refused to tell me anything beyond it was a personnel matter, the POE was suspended without pay for two weeks. Case closed.

What I didn’t know, until recently, was Post-Dispatch transportation reporter Leah Thorsen was pursuing the matter.     She filed a formal records request, which was declined citing personnel issues. An appeal to the Attorney General was also denied.

However, very recently she was told by the Treasurer’s chief of staff, Jared Boyd, it “was a gym bag with a purse inside.” Really? Who puts a purse inside a gym bag and drops it off routinely? After I met with the reporter I suggested she ask the owner of the Ford Edge — I still see it routinely — just parked in the YMCA lot rather than on the street. A week ago she asked him:

On Monday, the SUV was parked in the Downtown YMCA lot, where patrons must pay $1.50 to park during daytime hours.

As he left the gym, I asked him what was in the bag placed in his vehicle over the summer.

“It was a lunch bag,” he said before slamming the Edge’s door. (Post-Dispatch)

I think only two people know the contents: the PEO & the owner of the Ford Edge. I knew it was a gym bag — but they can hold a myriad of things. Months ago I saw a PEO pulled into the YMCA parking lot but I couldn’t tell if a bag was dropped off. Since then I’ve not witnessed anything suspicious.  The purse (wink) or lunch (wink) drop offs ceased.

Tishaura Jones is running for reelection as Treasurer, the primary is August 2nd. Filing closes March 29th.

— Steve Patterson