Slay announces first endorsement

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay is raising money and pressing for endorsements five months before his primary election like his political life depended on it — and it may.

Slay, who in recent weeks has been raising tens of thousands of dollars from firms, unions and individuals that do business with the city, has now announced that the Laborers’ District Council have endorsed his campaign before anyone has announced they would be running against him.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 09, 2008

The primary election for St. Louis mayor is not until March 2009, but the campaign of Mayor Francis Slay has already announced endorsements.

The Eastern Missouri Laborers’ District Council and its three St. Louis based Laborers’ Locals, #42, #53 and #110, have voted to endorse Mayor Slay’s reelection.

Slay remains hugely unpopular in the city’s black community and he’s have little-to-no success in getting African-American elected officials to endorse him so far. The two-term mayor has also drawn the ire of the city’s public education supporters, urban preservationists, fiscal conservatives, and many city employees, making it all but certain that someone will challenge him in March.

The only questions is who.

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