On October 7, St. Louis held a special election to fill the vacant seat on the Board of Aldermen, for the 15th district. Four candidates were on the ballot: Democratic nominee Missy Pinkerton-McDaniel; Republican Joshua Simpson; independent Megan Green; and independent Rhonda Smythe. Here is a story about the candidates, a week before the election.
Green won the election, and the other independent, Smythe, placed second. The two independents together polled 80% of the vote.
What is remarkable is the number of candidates.
St.Louis has 28 wards, with aldermen elected for 4-year terms, 14 every two years. In the 2011 and 2013 elections, 20 of the 28 wards were uncontested. Only one ward had so many as three candidates.
With so many wards, and a declining population, use of mass media, such as television, radio, or newspapers would be expensive. With only a little over 10,000 persons, door-to-door campaigning in an area of about 100 blocks may have been feasible. The Democratic Party may have wanted to save there GOTV until November.