Incumbent Tishaura Jones, Michael Butler, Andrew Jones Jr., and Cara Spencer are running in the nonpartisan primary for Mayor of St. Louis on March 4, 2025.
St. Louis Public Radio’s Lara Hamdan and Rachel Lippmann wrote, “The next mayor of St. Louis will come into office with crime numbers mirroring the national downward trend…But he or she will also face a lot of challenges, including: Uncertainty over the city’s financial picture…Questions about whether the city will receive promised federal funds from the Trump administration…[and] a declining population.”
Jones was first elected in 2021. She is campaigning on her record and says, “We’ll be able to show people exactly where we have improved some of the things that they are most concerned about, and also let them know how we’re going to improve things in our second term.” Jones says that during her tenure, she used pandemic funds to improve the city: “homicides were at an all-time high and services weren’t being delivered. Fast forward to now and we’ve received pandemic relief funds…we’ve invested in people, infrastructure and upgraded the government experience.” Jones is affiliated with the Democratic Party.
Butler is the city’s recorder of deeds, a former state representative, and chaired the Missouri Democratic Party. Butler is campaigning on reducing crime, and his website says the city “must enforce it’s [sic] traffic laws in an equitable way, while recruiting and retaining quality police officers, and continuing to support programs that address the root causes of poverty and crime.” He is also campaigning on increasing housing, and says, “what I would focus on as mayor in improving downtown is improving housing options and improving affordability downtown so that we can increase population downtown.”
Jones Jr. is a businessman. He was the Republican nominee for mayor in 2017, a candidate for mayor in 2021, and the Republican nominee for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District in 2022 and 2024. Jones Jr. says he is running to “[g]et rid of crime first and then take care of economic development, community development, workforce development and make sure St. Louis is on the up and up.” He also is campaigning on being an outsider to politics and says, “When we talk to the people, they’re saying they want change, and if they want change, you only have one option … because all three are involved with the city.”
Spencer is a member of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, representing Ward 8. She finished second to Jones in the 2021 mayoral race. Spencer is campaigning to reduce government corruption and says, “Governments are failing our communities, and the city of St. Louis is failing our communities. And if I’m elected mayor, what I’ll do to rebuild trust is root out corruption in every single city department…zero tolerance for corruption.” She is also campaigning on public safety. Her website says, “Public safety is Cara’s top priority…A safer St. Louis starts with action and Cara’s committed to ensuring every resident’s right to live in safety.” Spencer is affiliated with the Democratic Party.
This is the second mayoral election to use approval voting. Voters can vote for any number of candidates, and the two candidates with the most votes will advance to a runoff.
Because of this system, polls have shown that each candidate’s approval among different groups could affect the outcome. A poll from Remington Research was conducted between January 29-30 of 507 likely voters with a margin of error of four percentage points. The poll has been cited by analysts, such as University of Missouri-St. Louis Prof. Anita Mannion, who highlighted that the poll showed Jones’ Approval at 21%. Mannion specifically focused on Black voters and said, “Jones needs the support of Black voters in the city to win this race, and according to this poll [Black] voters are pretty evenly split on how they feel about Jones at this time, with only 37% giving her a favorable rating.” The poll also showed Spencer had high favorability ratings among white voters and mixed ratings among other groups, while Butler was viewed favorably among black voters, and Jones Jr. trailed in every demographic.
St. Louis does not have term limits for the position of mayor. Mayors serve a four-year term.