Heard a rumor Jeff Smith might be interested in that seat. Rachel Storch's announcement might change things. Either one's strategy would be to to hope for a strong showing among CWE liberals and then to overperfomr the black and southside wards. Only one of them has shown an ability to really pull in unexpected places, though Rachel didn't do terribly in some of her African-America precincts.

Remember that both El-Amin and Kratky are pro-life while Storch is pro-choice, a fairly important distinction in a district that has the central corridor as one of its main voting blocks. Not to mention the fund-raising advantage that issue alone would give Storch.

Missouri NARAL website lists El-Amin's voting record as pro-choice.

http://www.prochoicemissouri.org/politicalupdates/legislators.shtml

Rachel is the hardest working smartest member of the freshman class. She even managed to get a bill passed.It's great to see that someone is willing to risk a safe seat to take on more responsiblity. I'm not saying anythign negative about the two other prospective candidates they seem like good people but Rachel is a star.

Rep. El-Amin has a mostly pro-choice voting record. This past session she made one anti-choice vote and six pro-choice votes. The one anti-choice vote was on a House Amendment regarding tax credits for individuals donating to crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). If anyone is curious as to why we consider this an anti-choice vote, visit http://www.prochoicemissouri.org/issues/cpc.shtml.

Tim Schoemehl correctly notes that NARAL's web site lists El-amin as pro-choice. That site categorizes every legislator with a record as being either pro-choice, anti-choice or mixed choice.

What is the dividing line between those categories? Does a 6-1 record count as pro-choice, or is NARAL just lackadaisical about updating its web site? (The session finished over a month ago.)

Jeff Smith is calling folks and telling them he is running.

Qualifications for State Senate candidates:
(according to Art. III, § 6 Constitution of Missouri & § 21.070, RSMo)
- At least 30 years of age
- Qualified Missouri voter for three years before election
- Resident of the district which he is chosen to represent for 1 year before election

Jeff's address when he ran for 3rd District Congress is 7754 Kingsbury in Clayton. That ain't in the 4th Senate district; indeed, it's in the 24th (Joan Bray). But I guess there's still enough time for him to move into the City of St. Louis.

Both the 4th and 5th Senate districts in the City are huge now and extend from far north to far south, including the central corridor. The 4th has more of the affluent areas like the CWE and St. Louis Hills, but also very poor areas like Walnut Park and points south.

An interesting question in this race is where would the votes from Shaw and Tower Grove South fall? Traditionally, this was Dougherty's homebase, which would suggest a Kratky advantage; however, the younger liberals and LGBT voters who now are a significant force there would likely prefer Rachel. There's also the sizable African-American and Asian-American populations in those areas, but I'm not sure either group wields enough political clout there - yet.

Very interesting race to follow.

I have it on very good authority that Jeff Smith has a contract in on a home in the 4th.

Last August's election in the 64th District cost over $300,000 for the 4 Democratic candidates. Five months into the first term, Rachel now wants to be a Senator. I bet Tim Schoemehl, Terry Crow, or Sreenu Dandamudi would have served 4 terms as State Rep.

$300,000! What a waste. Now we'll probably waste well over that in progressive dollars again in this cycle. I hope she reconsiders and thinks about the commitment that the voters in our district made to her.