Connie Johnson, with eye on past, mulls Senate bid
While three State House reps have already made the first steps towards running for the 5th District Senate seat, a fourth says she is considering her options.
State Rep. Connie L. Johnson told me that she, too, is mulling the possibility of getting into the 2008 race, which already includes three of her colleagues: Reps. Tom Villa, Robin Wright-Jones and Rodney Hubbard.
But more than anything, Johnson says, she wants to make sure the seat remains with an African-American.
âI have not made a final decision,” Johnson said. âAs a true statesman, I have to look at the big picture. And the big picture for me is the importance of preserving history and having African-American representation in the 5th Senatorial district.”
Perhaps no other elected seat in Jefferson City has had more historical importance for African-Americans in St. Louis. Before Maida Coleman was elected in 2002, the seat was held by the late Paula Carter, who died in office. Carter inherited the post from the legendary powerbroker J.B. “Jet” Banks, who, in the time before term limits, for years wielded his influence as the city’s senior senator at the Capitol.
âI think it is so very important that people - particularly the African-American community - that we learn from the past,” Johnson said. âIn particular, the immediate past.”
That last remark is a reference to the 2006 campaign in the 4th Senate District, a race that featured three African-American candidates, who, presumably, split the black vote, making it that much easier for Jeff Smith to win the nomination.
With that in mind, Johnson is debating getting into - or staying out of - a race that currently features two African-Americans.
Will history repeat itself? We shall see.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Taking district history back a little further:
Banks won the seat in 1976, unseating 2-term Sen. Raymond Howard. Howard had put the seat in African American hands for the first time in 1976, unseating 91-year-old white incumbent Sen. Michael Kinney, who had held the seat for 64 years. Kinney was first elected in 1912, prior to the constitutional requirement that a senator have attained age 30 by the time of the election.
Back to the present: If Johnson is serious about electing an African American successor, if Villa files as expected (and no other significant white candidate also files), Johnson should not file unless the other major black candidates stay out. That’s not likely.
That’s the reality of racial voting in the Democratic primary in the City of St. Louis.