Johnson Nixes Local 73 Endorsement

It’s a preemptive thanks, but no thanks.

State Rep. Connie Johnson sent a letter to Firefighters Local 73 Tuesday stating she would not “seek nor accept” any endorsement from the union due to the “racial discrimination” she has seen in the St. Louis City Fire Department.

Johnson is currently running for the Fifth District Senate seat.

In the letter addressed to Chris Molitor, president of Firefighters Local 73, Johnson writes how she was invited along with other Fifth District candidates to meet with Local 73’s board last week, but did not attend due to her opposition over the department’s behavior surrounding the ousting of embattled Fire Chief Sherman George last year.

She sent the letter to Molitor stating, “In the eyes of most of our St Louis community – particularly the African-American community – the fact that we have a fire department that is essentially segregated is repulsive.”

“And what makes matters even more alarming is the additional fact that we have a Union that defends and even appears to take pride in this segregation. Local 73 cannot escape either responsibility or accountability for this current state, and I cannot and will not ignore my duty to stand and fight against it.”

Johnson wrote that she is a staunch supporter of organized labor but could not support a group that possibly “engineered, the most racially divisive event to occur in this city in years.”

It is unclear if Johnson was ever likely to receive Local 73’s endorsement.

Johnson is one of three candidates seeking to replace the term-limited Sen. Maida Coleman. The other two are Rodney Hubbard* and Robin Wright-Jones.

*Hubbard is a client of PubDef.net publisher Antonio D. French.