In this EXCLUSIVE VIDEO, St. Louis attorney Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman takes the oath attesting that no one put her in the race for mayor and that she is indeed a legitimate candidate.
State Senator Maida Coleman, who was rumored for weeks to file today to challenge Mayor Francis Slay in the Democratic primary, was shocked to learn that just minutes before she arrived, a political unknown sharing her last name had just filed for the office.
“Obviously, someone has determined that Maida Coleman is a real threat to Francis Slay,” Senator Coleman told reporters. “This woman, Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman — who’s never run for public office before — happens to show up on the last day of filing.”
St. Louis has a long history of “stalking horses” and people have gone to jail in the past for the practice. But more often than not, the stalking horse strategy proves effective at dividing the opposition votes.
Exactly what St. Louis needs more of — division and deception.
Wesley Coleman, who briefly served as attorney for the Board of Aldermen, is rumored to be in consideration for a municipal judgeship, which is a mayoral appointment. We’ll be investigating that rumor as well as any other connections between Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman and Francis Slay.
Stay tuned.
Antonio, as you know, I’m fuming with disgust.
Posted by Douglas Duckworth | 03. Jan, 2009, 1:10 AMDenise has been thinking about running for awhile now because she thinks that someone from outside the political establishment needs to run against Slay.
I can’t be certain, obviously. But I think this has more to do with being inspired by Obama than any possible favors being offered by Slay.
Posted by Clark | 03. Jan, 2009, 7:47 AMWell, even if she is legit (shes not), its still a low move on her part. People have known for a while Maida would file, and yet this other woman waited until the last moment to file, out of the blue. Kind of a low move on her part.
BTW, She IS a stalking horse. Doug, I was feeling pretty bad last night too. Didn’t get to sleep until 12:30 or somthin.
Posted by Turd Ferguson | 03. Jan, 2009, 8:08 AMAn intellegent person who wanted to run for office and win, would probably not enter a race with the make-up of this one. A Mayors race for a major city with a black woman already in the race, a woman with the same last name speculated for months to enter the race (and confirmed all over the news that she was filing ) and a well funded incumbant doesn’t seem like a wise choice to explore euphoria induced delusions.
Posted by questionable | 03. Jan, 2009, 8:47 AMWell, any candidate waiting until three months before the election to file against an entrenched incumbent is probably a little bit delusional, Maida included.
Why so sure, Mr. Ferguson? Got some proof?
Posted by Clark | 03. Jan, 2009, 9:10 AMWe can’t prove anything. But that doesn’t matter. The outcome is clear: Slay will handily win the democratic primary and crush Maida Coleman in the General Election.
Posted by Douglas Duckworth | 03. Jan, 2009, 11:40 AMIf the other Coleman really wanted to beat and challenge Slay then should would have stayed out of the race. She’s ensured his victory.
Posted by Douglas Duckworth | 03. Jan, 2009, 11:41 AMThat outcome was already clear.
If Maida Coleman truly wanted to run and beat Francis Slay, she should have made it clear months ago in order to build the sort of support she needed. Deciding to file on the last day, only making it clear that you are going to run on the last week, then complaining about other challengers, well, that is silly.
Posted by Clark | 03. Jan, 2009, 12:11 PMA town that can sit there in silence, and not demand any answers when 12 bullets were fired into a kid who was getting a little too loud as he considered legal action aginst the slps, (to intimidate media reporting of the retakeover?), and a town that can can watch silently as Blunt and Slay’s operatives outsource education money to an outfit like Texascan, which could not even finish a school year without falling apart—–is not going to get very excited about this latest round of abusive behavior.
Posted by kjoe | 03. Jan, 2009, 2:12 PMMaida has been building support, Clark, just quietly behind the scenes. Just because the Post doesn’t report on something doesn’t mean it didn’t happen (or because they do, doesn’t mean it did–case in point with their screwup on the headline about her not running).
I think many would be surprised at how many of us that you would look at and assume are Slay supporters are really anxious to vote for someone else. But Slay, I think, knows, which is why he’s been so aggressive about his campaign. He knows his support among those who can actually vote for him is not overwhelming by any means.
Posted by Katie | 03. Jan, 2009, 5:16 PMSo who’s going to help her do it? Is it the fantastic ground organization that she put behind Amber Boykins’ weak finish in 2006? Or Jim Shrewsbury in 2007? Or Jeff Harris in 2008? Are there other organizations and politicians who are prepared to step in and help her out?
The questions are only partly sarcastic – I would really like to know.
Posted by Clark | 03. Jan, 2009, 5:48 PMThe grass roots network that with little money and a lot of work fought off the re-election of the Slay school board candidates is anxious to support someone against Slay. It’s a pretty diverse coalition that covers north and south and covers all economic classes. It’s a coalition that doesn’t have a name or have meetings–it’s word of mouth and people talking to each other about the issues and what we can do to exercise the only power we have–the power to vote. That network of regular people who have been awakened to the idea that they need to pay attention is here and watching. Whether it is enough to overcome Slay, we shall see, but if he thinks money alone will overcome the many of us who are not satisfied under his leadership, he is in error. We will either do the work needed to win again, or we won’t and we’ll deserve what happens. It is tremendously exciting to know, however, that when those of us without money or power have banded together, we have been able to win. That’s the dream this country was built upon, and even if it doesn’t always work, to know it can is a beautiful thing.
Posted by Katie | 03. Jan, 2009, 6:07 PMI think MAIDA has a good chance of winning. Slay winning is by no means a foregone conclusion at this point. Some points:
1. Irene Smith got 31% or so in 2005 running unopposed against Slay. I think that number will increase this year. People who oppose Slay need to vote for her in the Primary, just to give him a little more competition.
2. Even then, how experienced are people in the ways of the General Election in St. Louis? How many people actually vote in that? It may very well be that the parents coming out this year to vote on whoever runs for the Elected School board (that election is during the General) may have the decisive vote in this.
Posted by Turd Ferguson | 03. Jan, 2009, 6:32 PMAntonio, you were down there. I would think you’d know better than me, but I have a theory that this may have backfired a bit on Slay. I think he was aiming to get BWWC to file AFTER Maida had filed, and by then, it would have been too late for Maida. Too bad though, Maida slipped out, and onto the General Election.
Posted by Turd Ferguson | 03. Jan, 2009, 6:53 PMThe Post Dispatch, in an editorial today, strongly implied that Maida Coleman no longer even exists.
Posted by kjoe | 22. Feb, 2009, 4:32 PMWow. Haven’t posted here in a while. Lots of stuff has happened! Anyway, what do people think the outcome of the mayoral primary will be? I say:
Irene Smith – 47%
Francis Slay – 40%
DWWC – 13%
What do others think?
Posted by Turd Ferguson | 22. Feb, 2009, 6:13 PM