Tishaura Jones becomes first Black woman elected mayor of St. Louis

Tishaura Jones was elected mayor of St. Louis on Tuesday, making her the first Black woman to hold that position.

Results Tuesday evening showed Jones, the current city treasurer, besting her opponent Alderman Cara Spencer by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin.

Both Jones and Spencer had campaigned as advocates for social justice who would implement criminal justice reform. 

St. Louis and nearby Ferguson were focal points of civil rights protests following the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown, around which time the Black Lives Matter movement gained national traction.

Jones entered the race with an existing base of support from a failed 2017 mayoral campaign and winning bids for treasurer and ties to a slew of city officials, including St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, who endorsed her. She was considered a front-runner after she came in first place in the March 2 primary.

Tuesday’s race marked the second phase of St. Louis’s nonpartisan voting system. A March 2 primary was held in which voters could cast ballots for as many contenders as they wanted, while the April 6 runoff was designated just for those who won the broadest support.

Jones most recently won her spot as treasurer in 2020 and will be sworn in as mayor on April 20.