Post Election Thoughts
Final Thoughts on the 2025 Municipal Election
Congratulations to all the candidates who won their elections in St.Louis City this past Tuesday! I am especially grateful to the citizens of St. Louis for electing Donna Baringer as our next Comptroller and voting out 30-year incumbent, Darlene Green. The Baringer campaign succeeded in getting their message out from gathering petitions in September to the last minutes of Election Day on April 8th. Congratulations to Donna Baringer, and best wishes to her as she takes charge of one of the most powerful and important offices in the city!
Election Day Highlights
A change of administrations.
Not only did Donna Baringer win her election, Cara Spencer also ousted incumbent, Tishaura Jones. After one term as mayor, Jones was voted out by a large 28 point margin, with Spencer having flipped key South Side neighborhoods since the previous election.
I was lucky enough to be in my 12th hour of working the polls at the Gene Slay’s Boys and Girls Club in Soulard when Spencer and her crew showed up to vote in her ward. The media was ready, and you can see me in the background, serving up some last minute facts (with a smile) to voters as they walked up to perform their civic duty.
Image from the St. Louis Post-Dipatch: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/article_1f0a88d1-f51c-49f2-a555-c6c5a5f2436b.html
New Board of Education members.
Board President Toni Cousins was not re-elected after a whirlwind of bad press. Flight upgrades and meals at 801 Chophouse is not a good look when teachers have to hold school supply drives to stock their classrooms (Bernhard, 2025).
The winning candidates for the School board are Dr. Karen Collins-Adams, Brian Marston, and Allisa “AJ” Foster. Dr. Collins-Adams is an educator with administrative experience. She understands and is ready to meet the financial challenges of our public schools and wants to better support students with IEPs (Ahmad, 2025). Foster will be the youngest member of the board of education, and she brings a lot of energy and fresh ideas with her. Brian Marsten was the only candidate with kids currently attending public schools. He has a background in web development, and is experienced in education administration (personal communication, 2025). Best of luck to these new board members! We will need strong leadership in St. Louis Public Schools with the challenges of federal funding cuts and a declining population.
The option to vote anywhere in St. Louis is convenient!
A few voters, including a city trash truck driver, pulled up next to me at the polls and asked if they could vote at that location. After telling them that they can vote there with a valid ID, they pulled over and were in and out in 5 minutes.
The 2nd ward (my ward) had the highest turnout!
The 2nd ward once again had the highest turnout of all the wards in the city, with 33.55% turnout!
The second ward has an engaged Democratic organization, but since ward reduction, we are increasing our efforts to reach Democrats in our ward. I am finding that many folks want to get more involved in local issues because they feel like they need to do something in light of national issues. The Second Ward Democrats host open ward meetings on the second Thursday of every month, and all wards are welcome! If you are a dues-paying 2nd warder, you can vote in endorsement meetings.For those who are interested in attending our ward meetings, check out our Facebook page!
I was way off about the aldermanic predictions. All the incumbents won, and aside from the 3rd ward, none of the elections were close (Board of Elections, 2025). Congrats to all the winners!
Perfect weather, dismal turnout.
This one is less of a “highlight”. The weather was perfect!..Yet turnout was low. Only 25% of voters showed up for such an important and consequential election cycle, and this time, we cannot blame the weather. Voters also had two weeks to vote leading up to the election and could vote at any polling place on Election Day, which shows that convenience had little impact on turnout. The fact that there is such little participation in local elections is concerning for those who recognize the importance of exercising one’s rights.
Just like a muscle, when you do not exercise your right to vote it weakens our democracy. Special interests and bad actors can get their self-serving agendas through, and no one is aware because they are not participating. And it is happening. From changing our system of voting, to redistricting shenanigans, to Republican attempts to throw out votes, there has been a steady chipping away of our democracy. We need to stay vigilant, put aside our inter-party squabbling, and get out the vote! I hope that members of the Democratic Central Committee in the City of St. Louis amp up their efforts to promote Democrats in the city, county, and state!
What are your thoughts?
What were some of your highlights from election day? Why do you think voter turnout is low? Feel free to leave a comment about that or anything else below!
References
Ahmad, H. (2025, January 10). Here are the 12 candidates running for the St. Louis Public Schools Board of Education. St. Louis Public Radio. https://www.stlpr.org/education/2025-01-03/12-candidates-st-louis-public-schools-board-of-education
Bernhard, B. (2025, January 16). President of St. Louis School Board defends credit card spending after member resigns. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/article_31d1be7e-d2b5-11ef-b00b-fb03c68eaffe.html#tracking-source=in-article
Board of Elections. (2025). Election results for St. Louis City. City of St. Louis. https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/board-election-commissioners/elections/results/
**Victory in the Lou**
From the red-brick streets of Soulard’s heart,
Where civic pride and duty start,
Came winds of change, both bold and bright—
Two women rose, and claimed the night.
Donna stood tall with steady grace,
A calm, determined, seasoned face.
She vowed to serve, to show, to lead—
And won the trust with word and deed.
No flash, no flair, just work well done,
Her fight began in autumn sun.
Petitions signed, the word got spread,
And now she leads the books ahead.
And then came Spencer, firm and true,
Who flipped the South Side’s tried-and-true.
By twenty-eight, a landslide wide,
She sent the Jones regime aside.
I stood my post, twelfth hour strong,
The line still moving right along.
And in that ward, the cameras rolled,
As ballots cast the future told.
With clipboard facts and hopeful grin,
I watched democracy begin.
The people spoke in vote and voice—
And made their bold, collective choice.
To Donna B., and Spencer too,
We tip our hats, we cheer for you.
Now lead with wisdom, heart, and flair—
For St. Louis placed its future there.