Press "Enter" to skip to content

Final Missouri Times poll shows Krewson with strong lead

Alderwoman Lyda Krewson has dominated The Missouri Times polling for the St. Louis Mayoral race since the word go, and the final poll from the publication is no different.

Krewson commands the rest of the field with 35 percent of respondents saying they will vote for her Tuesday. Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed had 16 percent of the vote, maintaining his second place position he has had for much of the race, and Alderman Antonio French had 15 percent. St. Louis City Treasurer Tishaura Jones rounded out the top four Democratic candidates with 13 percent of the vote, well within the +/- 3.9 percent margin of error of Reed and French.

The poll also found Mayor Francis Slay had a 52 percent approval rating just months before he is set to leave office after nearly 16 years as the city’s highest elected official. Only 26 percent of respondents disapproved of his performance.

Slay endorsed Krewson to replace him in early February.

As for the policies of the next mayor, 49 percent of St. Louisans want the next mayor to fight crime while 22 percent believe job creation should be the top priority.


Regardless of poll position, each candidate made their last bids for the vote of mayor. Reed touted the work he has accomplished within the Board of Alderman in a new advertisement.

Reed also celebrated the decision by the Missouri Supreme Court to allow St. Louis’ minimum wage ordinance to go into effect, he co-sponsored the ordinance.

Meanwhile, Jones continued to pick up endorsements from progressives. She received the official support of the Working Families Party, a minor party based largely on the East Coast which has experienced a resurgence after U.S. Sen. Bernie Sander’s presidential run. Rep. Bruce Franks, D-St. Louis, also came out in support of Jones late last week. Franks notably defeated Rep. Penny Hubbard in a highly contested election that went to a re-election in large part by harnessing progressive populism in South St. Louis City.

French received another newspaper endorsement after winning the Post-Dispatch’s endorsement last week: StudLife, the student paper at Washington University officially endorsed the alderman. Aside from Jones, French is viewed as the other prominent progressive in the race, and an endorsement from the Washington University paper means he could garner a significant number of younger voters.

While these four candidates are Democrats and Tuesday’s election is a primary, the winner of that primary will likely win the general election easily, given the highly Democratic political make-up of the city.