Updated at 11:50 a.m. Nov. 22 with comments from Reed
St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed officially announced he is running for mayor of St. Louis.
Reed made the announcement late Saturday night, just days after Mayor Lyda Krewson announced she won’t seek reelection.
“I have heard you loud and clear,” Reed said in a tweet. “I am excited and honored to file for office on Monday as your next mayor.”
Reed said the support he’s received inspired him to run. He said the coronavirus pandemic and wanting to focus on an eventual recovery also influenced him.
“We have a ton of rebuilding to do post-coronavirus,” Reed said Sunday. “It’s going to take some mileage and some skills and some experience to get us through that.”
St. Louis - THANK YOU!
— Lewis E. Reed (@PresReed) November 22, 2020
Thank you for all of the messages, emails and phone calls asking to sign my petition to be on the ballot in March. I've heard you loud & clear. I am excited and honored to file for office on Monday to run as your next Mayor! #STL #ReedForStLouis pic.twitter.com/qkfiUMyeuj
Reed said that if elected, he also wants to focus on police reform and economic empowerment, among other issues.
“Expanding education and access to education, transportation issues, those are the things we have to focus on, those are the things we have to hit home runs on,” Reed said. “St. Louis is a great city with a lot to offer, but we have to begin to operate differently.”
Reed thanked his supporters in a video posted on Twitter.
“We’ve got a ton of people who are out there volunteering,” Reed said in the video. “It really moves me, and I’m just so thankful to see just that inspiring support that’s just growing up for this upcoming election.”
In addition to Reed, St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones, Alderwoman Cara Spencer and businesswoman Dana Kelly are expected to file to run in the March 2021 primary. Filing opens Monday.
City voters will participate in a nonpartisan approval voting system after Proposition D passed in November. Voters can choose as many candidates as they want, and then the top two will compete in a general election in April.
Reed unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2013. He ran again in 2017, finishing third with about 18% of the vote behind Jones and Krewson.
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