Tishaura Jones was elected mayor of St. Louis on Tuesday, making her the first black woman to hold that position.
Results Tuesday night, Jones, the city’s current treasurer, had her opponent beat Councilor Cara Spencer by a margin of 52-48.
Both Jones and Spencer had campaigned as social justice advocates for criminal justice reform.
St. Louis and nearby Ferguson were focal points of civil rights protests after the murder of Michael Brown by police in 2014, at which time the Black Lives Matter movement gained national traction.
Jones entered the race with an existing base of support from a failed 2017 mayoral campaign and willing bids for treasurer and ties to a slew of city officials, including St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, who supported her. She was considered a front runner after taking first place on March 2.
Tuesday’s race marked the second phase of St. Louis’s impartial voting system. A primaries were held on March 2 that allowed voters to cast votes for as many contenders as they wanted, while the April 6 run-off was only for those who won the widest support.
Jones last won her spot as treasurer in 2020 and will be sworn in as mayor on April 20.