Map Shows Stark Differences in Election Competitiveness across St. Louis County
By Vienna I. Austin
Mayoral candidates in some St. Louis County municipalities haven’t faced an opponent in years. That gives voters little choice in who is the face of their city, and in many cases, who is responsible for key decisions in their local government.
Of the municipalities in St. Louis County that hold mayoral elections, only around 39% held a contested race in their most recent one, according to official election results published by the county. In the past 10 years’ elections, voters in almost a third of these municipalities had more than one option to choose from less than 20% of the time. For some cities, the past decade featured no competitive mayoral elections.
A total of 20 municipalities throughout St. Louis County have not held a single contested mayoral election in the past decade, or roughly 27% of municipalities that elect mayors. These include Ladue, Town and Country, St. John, and Ballwin.
However, some municipalities, especially smaller communities in north St. Louis County, are host to highly competitive local democracies. Despite being dwarfed in footprint and population by many of their neighbors, Pine Lawn, Breckenridge Hills, Normandy, Northwoods, and Wellston have seen more than one candidate run for mayor in every election of the past 10 years. In total, 15 communities, or around 20% of municipalities electing mayors, held only contested elections. This includes Jennings, Ferguson, Maplewood, Chesterfield, and Pacific, who have also all hosted competitive races in every mayoral election since 2016.
Note: Not all municipalities have held the same number of mayoral elections in the past 10 years, and some municipalities do not hold mayoral elections.
Click here to download a PDF of this map.
Vienna I. Austin is a journalism student at the University of Missouri. Currently, she serves as a Data & Investigation Chief at The Maneater, the university’s student newspaper. Born and raised in north St. Louis County, she enjoys being back home as often as possible and wishes she could just take an Amtrak ride between St. Louis and Columbia.
