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Ferguson, Mo., mayor reelected

by Nikita Vladimirov - 04/05/17 10:20 AM ET

Ferguson, Mo., Mayor James Knowles III, who worked to unite the city amid protests following the police-involved shooting death of Michael Brown, won reelection on Tuesday.

Knowles defeated Ella Jones, a city council member who was seeking to become the town’s first black mayor in its 123-year history, for his third term.

{mosads}Knowles took 56 percent of the vote. In comments after his win, he focused on the city’s finances.

“Ferguson has a bright future, but like I’ve said (before) we have to be careful with how we spend our money,” Knowles said, as reported by USA Today. “We have to get the best return on all our investments. We have to make sure that we don’t repeat errors of the past. I think a lot of that comes with experience.”

Knowles was initially criticized for saying there was no racial bias in the 2014 shooting death of Brown, an African-American teenager. The shooting sparked waves of protests and turned the city into the epicenter of the debate over racism and policing.

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