ST. LOUIS — "Aldergeddon is over," Board of Aldermen President Megan Green declared Wednesday.
After the dust settled from a bruising campaign season with half as many wards, nine incumbent members of the board had lost their re-election bids; nine others opted not to enter the fray.
Four new challengers won their races and will take their seats alongside 10 surviving incumbents in two weeks when the new board of aldermen is sworn in.
Mayor Tishaura Jones, who endorsed four winners this election, celebrated the election of the most diverse legislative body in the city's history.
"For the first time in city history, our board now reflects the diversity of the city," Mayor Tishaura Jones said in a phone call with 5 On Your Side.
Voters elected six Black members, six white members, one Latina, and one Asian-American. Two of the election winners are openly members of the LGBT community.
"The progressive movement in this city has continued to pick up steam each election cycle," Green said.
Alderman Joe Vollmer, who temporarily served as the interim president of the board, noted that some corners of the city voted for "radical change," while wards like his with high voter turnout voted for for "continuity."
"There should be not one mode saying we won or we lost," Vollmer said. "If we don't do this together, we're going nowhere."
Seven of the eight candidates Green endorsed won their races, though one of them was uncontested.
The only incumbent to defeat a Green-endorsed candidate was Alderwoman Sharon Tyus, the longest-serving member of the board. Green and Jones both endorsed newcomer candidate Tashara Earl, who lost to Tyus by more than 200 votes.
"It was a close race, but she didn't quite get over the finish line," Green said. "I am still confident and comfortable with the majority that we do have."
According to Tyus, voters in North St. Louis "told Megan Green to take her butt back across Highway 40," Tyus said in a Wednesday morning phone call, acknowledging that she was probably "too fresh with the wounds right now."
Tyus has been a leading critic of the mayor in recent spats at City Hall and appears poised to continue her clashes with Jones and Green.
"Bless her heart," Mayor Jones said about Tyus in a recent interview.
After the inauguration of the new board, President Green said their primary goal should be "re-envisioning what public safety looks like for this city."
Jones echoed Green's remarks, expressing confidence that the majority of the new board "believes we should be smart on crime, not necessarily tough on crime."
The St. Louis Police Officers Association, which has bristled at the direction of the city under Jones and Green, continued its efforts to persuade state legislators to pry control of the police force from the city of St. Louis. During testimony before the Missouri Senate on Wednesday, police union lobbyists pleaded with Republican legislators to strip the city of control of its police department, in part because "the progressive movement won."
"That's an attack on democracy, an attack on home rule, and an attack on our basic freedoms," Mayor Jones responded. "And we know how Republicans love their freedoms."
Green also noted that candidates backed by the police union weren't successful in their campaigns. STLPOA endorsed eight candidates. Three of them won. Two of them were widely considered safe incumbents.
"The Police Officers Association has not had a great track record with candidates that they have supported in the recent past," she said.
Green said while police tend to focus on short-term immediate threats, policymakers should focus on long-term root causes underlying crime.
"Voters in this city recognize that if we want to actually create a safer city, we have to pursue different solutions than we've been pursuing for the last 30, 40 years," Green said. "I think the challenge of the Police Officers Association is a failure to recognize that, and that we have to focus more time and attention and resources on crime prevention, rather than just responding to crime."
To see all the election results from around the St. Louis area, click here.