Rumor is Villa will only run if more than one Black candidate runs. So who is the unifying candidate?

Alderman Carter seems an obvious contender. But would other Black Dems still challenge him? Hopefully, northside committee persons are already talking about who would be the best uniter, and even talking to their near-southside counterparts to avoid any surprise splits.

At the same time, white Dems need to realize that it's to their advantage to help a unifying black candidate win. Of all white Dems, Jeff Smith has the most to lose, if Tom Villa succeeds Maida Coleman. If Smith wants to earn more trust across his district, he must be ready and willing to use his southside connections to dissuade white Dems from even running.

Like many St. Louisans, I like Tom Villa, but the political consequences are just too severe if our majority-minority city loses representation in the State Senate.

I'm confident that State Senator Maida Coleman will play a pivotal role in her successor. I would really like to see the parties 'come to the table' to draw a consensus candidate.

It is my desire, that all parties can put aside any past differences and understand that the bigger picture is--

(1) developing an antedote to voter apathy, especially among African Americans in the City of St. Louis

(2) developing influential representation on the local, state, and a national levels

(3) interested parties will be willing to examine a list of criterion based on community input

We simply cannot have what happened in the 4th District happen in the 5th District

Until next time...Chow!