Cara Spencer
2023 - Present
2027
1
Cara Spencer is a member of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen in Missouri, representing Ward 8. She assumed office on April 18, 2023. Her current term ends on April 20, 2027.
Spencer is running for election for Mayor of St. Louis in Missouri. She is on the ballot in the general election on April 8, 2025. She advanced from the primary on March 4, 2025.
Biography
Spencer earned her bachelor's in mathematics from Truman State University. Her professional experience includes working as a mathematical modeler for Mattson Jack Group, a healthcare consulting firm.[1]
2025 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the April 8 general election as a battleground race. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, Mayoral election in St. Louis, Missouri (2025)
Incumbent Tishaura Jones and Cara Spencer are running in the general election for mayor of St. Louis on April 8, 2025. This contest is a rematch of the 2021 election, in which Jones defeated Spencer 52% to 48%. Both candidates are affiliated with the Democratic Party.[2]
In the four-person primary, Spencer received 49% of the vote, and Jones received 24%. St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Austin Huguelt and Joe Holleman wrote that Spencer's performance was a "reversal from four years ago, when Jones beat Spencer by [four] percentage points."[3] St. Louis Public Radio's Rachel Lippmann, Jason Rosenbaum, Will Bauer, and Lacretia Wimbley wrote, "While the outcome of the primary was the same as in 2021, the underlying numbers look quite different."[4]
Jones was first elected in 2021. She is campaigning on her record and says, "We’ll be able to show people exactly where we have improved some of the things that they are most concerned about, and also let them know how we’re going to improve things in our second term."[5] Jones says that she used pandemic funds to improve the city: "Homicides were at an all-time high and services weren’t being delivered. Fast forward to now and we’ve received pandemic relief funds and the first thing we did was to ask the community ‘what would you like to see’ with those funds. And we’ve invested in people, infrastructure and upgraded the government experience."[6]
Spencer is a member of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, representing Ward 8. Spencer is campaigning to reduce government corruption and says, "Governments are failing our communities, and the city of St. Louis is failing our communities. And if I’m elected mayor, what I’ll do to rebuild trust is root out corruption in every single city department…zero tolerance for corruption."[6] She is also campaigning on public safety. Her website says, "Public safety is Cara’s top priority. ... A safer St. Louis starts with action and Cara’s committed to ensuring every resident’s right to live in safety."[7]
On March 8, the Democratic Party of St. Louis endorsed Spencer. The party's Central Committee Chair Sean Fauss (D) said the endorsement showed Spencer "was able to win from where I'm at in the south ward all the way into the farthest north ward, and the votes of committee people in between."[8]
Eighteen percent of eligible voters turned out for the primary.[9] Jones says her numbers in the general election would improve with increased turnout and that her strategy was to "make sure that people are aware that there is another election... and increas[e] turnout all over the city."[10] Board of Aldermen president Megan Ellyia Green notes the possible effect that the supporters of the third and fourth-place primary finishers, Michael Butler and Andrew Jones Jr., could have on this race. She pointed to the potential influence of Butler's supporters for Jones and said she thought "a lot of the Butler vote will consolidate to the mayor."[11]
Elections
2025
See also: Mayoral election in St. Louis, Missouri (2025)
General election
General election for Mayor of St. Louis
Incumbent Tishaura Jones and Cara Spencer are running in the general election for Mayor of St. Louis on April 8, 2025.
Candidate | ||
| Tishaura Jones (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Cara Spencer (Nonpartisan) | ||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of St. Louis
Cara Spencer and incumbent Tishaura Jones defeated Michael Butler and Andrew Jones Jr. in the primary for Mayor of St. Louis on March 4, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Cara Spencer (Nonpartisan) | 48.7 | 23,785 | |
| ✔ | Tishaura Jones (Nonpartisan) | 23.7 | 11,582 | |
| Michael Butler (Nonpartisan) | 17.8 | 8,679 | ||
| Andrew Jones Jr. (Nonpartisan) | 9.7 | 4,757 | ||
| Total votes: 48,803 | ||||
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Endorsements
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2023
See also: City elections in St. Louis, Missouri (2023)
General election
General election for St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 8
Incumbent Cara Spencer defeated Kenneth Ortmann in the general election for St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 8 on April 4, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Cara Spencer (Nonpartisan) | 77.1 | 1,799 | |
| Kenneth Ortmann (Nonpartisan) | 22.2 | 518 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.7 | 16 | ||
| Total votes: 2,333 | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 8
Incumbent Cara Spencer and Kenneth Ortmann defeated Shedrick Kelley in the primary for St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 8 on March 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Cara Spencer (Nonpartisan) | 57.4 | 1,469 | |
| ✔ | Kenneth Ortmann (Nonpartisan) | 22.9 | 585 | |
| Shedrick Kelley (Nonpartisan) | 19.8 | 506 | ||
| Total votes: 2,560 | ||||
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2021
See also: Mayoral election in St. Louis, Missouri (2021)
General election
General election for Mayor of St. Louis
Tishaura Jones defeated Cara Spencer in the general election for Mayor of St. Louis on April 6, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Tishaura Jones (Nonpartisan) | 51.7 | 30,166 | |
| Cara Spencer (Nonpartisan) | 47.8 | 27,865 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 319 | ||
| Total votes: 58,350 | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of St. Louis
Tishaura Jones and Cara Spencer defeated Lewis E. Reed and Andrew Jones Jr. in the primary for Mayor of St. Louis on March 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Tishaura Jones (Nonpartisan) | 36.4 | 25,388 | |
| ✔ | Cara Spencer (Nonpartisan) | 29.7 | 20,659 | |
| Lewis E. Reed (Nonpartisan) | 24.7 | 17,186 | ||
| Andrew Jones Jr. (Nonpartisan) | 9.2 | 6,428 | ||
| Total votes: 69,661 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Note: The table above shows the percentage of votes received, while the table below shows the percentage of ballots cast. Under approval voting, voters may choose to vote for more than one candidate.
| Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of St. Louis, 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
 Tishaura Jones |
56.97% | 25,374 | |
| Cara Spencer |
46.36% | 20,649 | |
| Lewis Reed | 38.53% | 17,162 | |
| Andrew Jones | 14.42% | 6,422 | |
| Ballots Cast | 44,538 | ||
| Source: City of St. Louis | |||
2019
See also: City elections in St. Louis, Missouri (2019)
General election
General election for St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 20
Incumbent Cara Spencer won election in the general election for St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 20 on April 2, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Cara Spencer (D) | 96.0 | 334 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 4.0 | 14 | ||
| Total votes: 348 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 20
Incumbent Cara Spencer defeated Satia R. Hutton in the Democratic primary for St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 20 on March 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Cara Spencer | 69.5 | 660 | |
| Satia R. Hutton | 30.5 | 289 | ||
| Total votes: 949 | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
2015
The city of St. Louis, Missouri, held elections for Board of Aldermen on April 7, 2015. A primary election took place on March 3, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was January 2, 2015.[12]
In the Democratic primary election for Ward 20, Cara Spencer defeated incumbent Craig Schmid and David A. Gaither. Vickie A. Ingram ran unopposed in the Green Party primary. Spencer defeated Ingram and Stephen Jehle (I) in the general election on April 7.[13][14]
| St. Louis Board of Aldermen, Ward 20 General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Cara Spencer |
69.3% | 568 | |
| Green | Vickie A. Ingram | 1.3% | 11 | |
| Independent | Stephen Jehle | 28.8% | 236 | |
| Write-in | 0.6% | 5 | ||
| Total Votes | 820 | |||
| Source: St. Louis Board of Elections, "Election Summary Report," accessed January 6, 2020 | ||||
| St. Louis Board of Aldermen, Ward 20 Democratic Primary, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|
Cara Spencer |
48.1% | 360 | ||
| Craig Schmid Incumbent | 36% | 270 | ||
| David A. Gaither | 15.9% | 119 | ||
| Total Votes | 749 | |||
| Source: St. Louis Board of Elections, "Primary Election Results," accessed May 18, 2015 | ||||
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Cara Spencer has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Cara Spencer asking her to fill out the survey. If you are Cara Spencer, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
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You can ask Cara Spencer to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing cara@caraspencer.com.
2023
Cara Spencer did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
Cara Spencer did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Spencer's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
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” |
| —Cara Spencer’s campaign website (2021)[16] | ||
Campaign advertisements
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See also
2025 Elections
External links
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Candidate Mayor of St. Louis |
Officeholder St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 8 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Cara Spencer 2021 campaign website, "About Cara," accessed January 15, 2021
- ↑ St. Louis Business Journal, "St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones looks vulnerable in spring election: Drebes," January 24, 2025
- ↑ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Cara Spencer wins primary for St. Louis mayor; Tishaura Jones makes runoff," March 5, 2025
- ↑ STLPR, "Mayor Jones, Alderwoman Spencer advance for rematch of 2021 St. Louis mayoral race," March 4, 2025
- ↑ St. Louis American, "Mayor Jones makes it official, seeks re-election," December 3, 2024
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 St. Louis American, "Mayoral candidates clash on issues," February 13, 2025
- ↑ Cara Spencer 2025 campaign website, "A Platform for the Future," accessed February 20, 2025
- ↑ KDSK, "St. Louis Democratic Party endorses Cara Spencer for mayor in 'unprecedented' vote against incumbent mayor," March 8, 2025
- ↑ St. Louis American, "Mayor Jones, Spencer to face off April 8th," March 6, 2025
- ↑ STLPR, "Jones and Spencer face off over St. Louis’ future in heated joint appearance," March 18, 2025
- ↑ St. Louis Magazine, "Spencer wins mayoral primary, with Jones a distant second," March 4, 2025
- ↑ St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, "Municipal Elections," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ KSDK, "Unofficial election results," accessed April 8, 2015
- ↑ St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, "Primary Election Candidate List," accessed January 5, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Cara Spencer’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed December 22, 2020
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Annie Lee Rice |
St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 8 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 20 2015-2023 |
Succeeded by - |
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