ST. LOUIS – If St. Louis City Treasurer Tishaura Jones needed to shore up her status as the go-to progressive candidate in the St. Louis mayoral election, an old friend may have just given her some help on that front.
Former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander officially endorsed Jones in a video he posted to social media Monday morning.
A message to my friends in #STL about the race for Mayor. pic.twitter.com/AclCeakTXG
— Jason Kander (@JasonKander) February 6, 2017
“While there are a lot of good people running, it’s really important that we have someone that continues the progress Mayor Slay has made. I think that person is Tishaura Jones,” Kander said.
Kander and Jones served together as Democrats in the House of Representatives from 2009 to 2012. In the endorsement video, Kander says Jones is a great friend, a hard worker and someone who made the office of St. Louis city treasurer not only relevant but beneficial to the citizens of the city.
The endorsement also comes not only from a former Secretary of State but a rising star in the Democratic party. Despite his relatively narrow loss to U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, Kander has maintained an active political profile on both traditional and social media sources in a national spotlight. Most recently he launched a new effort called “Let America Vote” aimed at fighting what he calls voter suppression laws, attracting a wide range of left-leaning politicians, activists and policy advocates from around the nation to the cause.
For Jones, Kander’s endorsement comes at a much needed time. With the Democratic primary about a month away, the St. Louis City Treasurer lags behind not only frontrunner Alderman Lyda Krewson, but also President of the Board of Alderman Lewis Reed and Alderman Antonio French, according to polling from The Missouri Times.
Along with French, she is well regarded as a progressive candidate, which falls in line with Kander’s own philosophy. NARAL Pro Choice Missouri has also endorsed Jones, and state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed backed Tishaura Jones after bowing out of the race.
