OMG!

$92,000 on-hand and $87,000 is his own money!?

I'd say Reed's support is neither wide nor deep!

AGREED! He has nothing, really! He is also ONE WEEK past the filing deadline, why? All of this says that he really is running in circles while President Shrewsbury is busy raising money and getting REAL working endorsements!

Now we know why Reed waited so long to file his reports.

Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable!

Yard signs, caterers, over-paid staff - $113,626.78

Loans to himself - $88,000

The thought of Lewis Reed on the City’s Board of Estimate & Apportionment - SCARY!

The Shrewsbury people are up early this morning, spinning away.

What I see here is that Reed raised $30K more than Shrewsbury PLUS showed his commitment to the race by loaning a large sum to the effort.

And of course Reed is spending more. Shrewsbury has run for city-wide office a number of times. This is Reed's first city-wide effort. If he doesn't start earlier than Shrewsbury, he won't win.

The race for President of the Board of Alderman is just a formality now.

Jim Shrewsbury will more than likely win this election, and Lewis Reed will likely regret giving up his seat on the Board of Alderman, hiring a rookie campaign manager(Bob Rice), trusting the judgement of his campaign chairs and kitchen cabinet, loaning or spending $80,000+ of his own money just to stay in the race out of pride, looking at all the people on his payroll that are just there for the money everday until the election, and hearing the question over and over about why he didn't get out of the race when money wasn't coming in.

Let go of the pride and drop out of the race if you have to spend $80,000+ of your own money. Don't waste the time of people that take politics seriously for a good purpose, because of your own personal ego. The people around you must not think you can win, because otherwise they would be raising you big money. You have License Collector McMillan, Ald. Florida, Ald. Flowers, Ald. Ford-Griffin, Ald. Gregali, former Mayor Bosley, and many big time-big name people on your team, and you have to loan yourself $80,000+.

Something is wrong with this picture and you know it. You have a picture in a frame with no backing and now it is obvious to everyone, because that picture has been turned over. You have symbolic supporters with no financial substance coming forth. This is an embarrassment for any black candidate that expects to receive credibility in a citywide race for the future.

This was a great plan executed by somebody to get you out of politics so that you would no longer propose a threat to anybody, and the way it looks Shrewsbury will be the finisher of this plan.

Northside Post Dispatch believes that short of a miracle (miracles do happen), that everyone can look for Jim Shrewsbury to win this race and it is too little-too late for anything else!

Hot off the press: Reed, along with Shrewsbury, take money from suburban terrorists Blairmont! All is good in the 'hood.

Jim has the money no doubt about it but I havent recieved anything in my mail nor anyone at my door and I live in one of the wards that always turns out for Jim.

Are they waiting til the end to get my vote because we historically go for the white incumbent? seems like it to me and it also seems like a good opportunity for Reed to come in and pick off some south city votes because of this startegy.

Turn that scenario around and you have Jim working the North Side and Reed's ward plucking away the black vote.

More money means that it's alot easier getting your message out there BUT having less can mean you make the most out of what you got. Just depends on whose running the ship.

I dont think it's over for Reed but it sure is going to get alot harder this next month if he cannot lock in some serious $$ and South City support

Amazing. I see that Reed out raised Shrewsbury, and everyone is saying the race is over. What I see in the report is a challenger trying to get out ahead of an incumbent. A challenger trying to get the campaign off of the ground. A challenger who started campaigning a little earlier than his opponant. Am I missing something?

I agree with catherine. I'm not a politician, but it looks to me like the career-politician Shrewsbury was bested by his opponent. Reed was not only able to raise over $200,000 but obviously knows how to spend it right. I see Reed's signs all over the place and that TV ad he ran looked great. I read one of Reed's hand outs at a meeting and it looked professional, unlike the xeroxed thing Shrewsbury gave me. It must be eating at Shrewsbury that with his 20 plus years milking the political machinery he was only able to raise a pittance compared to his more energetic rival, Reed, raising more than 2 to 1 in donations.

On that loan issue, frankly I respect a candidate who invests his own money in the endeavor. Its much easier to waste other people's donations, but it tells me Reed will spend his money wisely since he is vested in the campaign. Heck, Shrewsbury has been feeding at the public trough for so long that he doesn't know anything about fiscal responsibility.

didn't susan montee loan her campaign half a million dollars? what's the big deal about reed believing in himself enough to donate a portion of what he received? none. period. end of a non-story.

We received a call the other day from the Shrewsbury campaign. The caller identified herself as a Shrewsbury worker. She wanted to know if we were going to vote for Jim Shrewsbury.

We asked her if she had our name and phone number in front of her. She said she did.

So we told her we did not want to share private information about our vote with a telephone solicitor.

Someone else said they saw a big Lewis Reed sign on Wilmore Road right by Shrewsbury's house.

That's cold.

I am amazed about fundraising information. In this one report Mr. Reed did outraise President Shrewsbury BUT you have to remember that Shrewsbury has raised hundreds of thousands more over the last year. Most people only donate once. Thus those that gave in, say July 06, will not give again. The BIG difference is that Shrewsbury has so much support that he did NOT have to loan himself money and he has at least $238,000. in the bank. He is raising more every day. All Reed has in the bank is the money he loaned himself, just over 1/3 of Shrewsbury's.

Telephone soliciting is a fair and proper way to find supporters of those voting in an election. Mr. Political Observer did the proper thing if he doesn't want that information out. In the 06 general election I volunteered with thousands others across the state geting information on who would vote for McCaskill or Talent via the phone. It was one of the big reasons that McCaskill won. Those supporting her were put on a special list and when GOTV time came they were called to vote and in some areas volunteers knocked on their door election day to make sure they voted. It is a much more effective way to secure votes vs robo calls.

A well run organization uses this method to target votes and make sure you get them to vote for your candidate. Don't be offended, be proud that you are a solid voting citizen to be called. I am sure that many people who are proud to say they support President Shrewsbury will be noted and called just before the election to remind them to vote for him.

Quarterly numbers are great but the total for each campagin is important too.

Reed
total raised 208,815.00
total spent 112,126.78
on hand 92,978.22

Shrewsbury
total raised 355,515.19
total spent 116,690.20
On hand 238,824.99

Thank you 'bean counter' for putting all the numbers in one spot. This does show the picture clearly. Keep in mind that of the amount Reed has raised, $88K of that is debt.

Assuming Shrewsbury has that kind personal cash, he could easily lend his campaign another $80K or so pushing his "raised" to over $400K.

The reality is that Shrewsbury has raise from donors $234K more than Reed has.

bean counter thanks for pointing that out. but doesn't that have to be taken with the information that Shrewsbury has been running for this office for the last 4 years, where Reed has run this campaign in only the last few months? so $355k over 4 years and $208k over 4 months. Reed is clearly the winner here.

Isn't Reed's loan to himself made with the confidence that his fundraising will be enough to pay himself back?

Thanks to the bean counter we can see that not only did Reed outraise Shrewsbury in the quarter but Jim has outspent Reed up to date. So it appears that those that think Reed has spent to much this early need to note that Shrewsbury has spent just as much up to this point in the election.

I would have to say that that if they had both started four years ago it would be advantage Shrewsbury, on fundraising, but since they didn't start at the same time it is hard to compare the numbers.

Who is winning the endorsement battle?

It appears Reed is way ahead in this category, especially with his fellow aldermen.

If Shrewsbury does win, will all the "Reed for President" endorsements by aldermen be forgiven?

Some good points raised here. As to Shrewsbury having four years to raise money, as election cycles go it is likely much harder to push for contributions after just winning an election and being several years away from the next election. Additionally, some contributors might logically want to wait before giving money to Shrewsbury --- what incentive would they have had to give money two years ago? They might like the challenger better?

If someone had the time they could review Shrewsbury's reports for the last four years to see if people now giving to Reed's campaign might have given to Shrewsbury during this same cycle?

Yes, Reed has pulled together and impressive amount of money in the last few months and he has even shown he is willing to spend his own money to get elected. But, as we approach the final month of campaigning Shrewsbury has the cash on hand to completely saturate the market with his message.

If Shrewsbury comes on strong in this last month will it be too much, like the campaign last year for the school board folks with all the glossy mailers? Reed's get out there early approach is probably very wise for a challenger --- facing a strong incumbent a challenger has very little choice otherwise.

Without Reed's own cash in the mix he'd be left with only $5,000 in the campaign fund. He may have more backers ready for that final month or he may spend through his own funds.

One thing we can probably all agree on, the next month will be interesting!

I think the creators of South Park can best explain the situation we have here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JlWVV67qys

No donation to Reed by ward 23 alderman Hanrahan but there is a donation by Dan Hagerty, husband of ward 23's committeewoman.

endorser asked, If Shrewsbury does win, will all the "Reed for President" endorsements by aldermen be forgiven? No. And their children and grandchildren will also be on the enemies list. Business people who donated to Reed without also donating to Shrewsbury will have an easier time. They will only have to cut a check after the election and explain they meant to get Shrewsbury the money before the election.

Did I miss something? Did the election already happen? It seems people are counting out Lewis Reed already. From what I have seen his money has gone to good places. I had some one knock on my door recently and have received two or three phone calls. Seems to me they want to win.

Electeds for Reed:

Flowers
Boyd
Florida
Ford-Griffin
Carpenter
Bosley
Ol Shelton?
Terry Kennedy?
Marlene Davis?
Gregali
Williamson?
Hanrahan

For Shrewsbury:

Heitert
Wessels
Conway
Waterhouse
Young?
Villa?
Ortmann?

Undecided:

Kirner?
Roddy?
Vollmer?
Schmid?

Did I miss Marlene Davis getting elected to office somewhere?

you can take those question marks off shelton, kennedy, davis and williamson.

also the one on young. but put one next to conway. and a big one next to republican heitert.

and add to electeds for reed, state reps hubbard, johnson, wright-jones and el-amin. also alderman troupe and alderwoman krewson.

and for shrewsbury, april harris (aka "nia knows")

To answer Urban Review, Marlene Davis is the (unopposed?) candidate to replace Mike McMillan as Alderman in the 19th Ward.

Isn't Marlene Davis the committeewoman for the 19th ward, and heir apparent for the aldermanic seat?

Who's April Harris?

Updated Endorsement Scorecard:

Electeds for Reed:

Flowers
Boyd
Florida
Ford-Griffin
Carpenter
Bosley
Ol Shelton
Terry Kennedy
Marlene Davis
Gregali
Williamson
Hanrahan
Hubbard
Johnson
Wright-Jones
El-Amin
Troupe
Krewson

For Shrewsbury:

Heitert??
Wessels
Conway?
Waterhouse
Young
Villa?
Ortmann?

Undecideds:

Kirner?
Roddy?
Vollmer?
Schmid?
Coleman
Jeff Smith?
Daus?

Aldermen for Reed, what about Troupe, Krewson, McMillan, Carter, Baringer, Jones-King, did they disappear?

Carter is definitely with Reed
Krewson is with Reed, the 28th ward executive group just endorsed him unanimously
McMillan is definitely with Reed
Baringer is definitely with Shrewsbury, he gave her his old job
Jones-King I don't know about

Can Heitart even endorse? People can't vote for him and Shrewsbury so does an endorsement even mean anything?

Vollmer is supporting Jim Shrewsbury

Who is Fred Kratky supporting?
Who is Slay ( the father) supporting?

Troupe and formerly Smith
Flowers
Bosley, Sr.
Shelton
Ford-Griffin
(of course Reed for himself)
Gregali
Florida
Kennedy
Formerly McMillan and soon to be Davis
Boyd and formerly Jones and Ozier
Hanrahan
Williamson
Carter
Krewson

All of the above mentioned Alderpersons and former Alderpersons have endorsed Lewis Reed in his bid for President of the Board of Aldermen. As a lifelong St. Louis resident, I have NEVER heard of the majority of the Board of Aldermen basically having a vote of NO CONFIDENCE in the President. Shrewsbury does not even have the support of the majority of his co-workers after 25 YEARS at the same job. That alone should make him resign in disgrace. If he was such a great leader, he would have almost unanimous support at the Board. He has actually LOST a great deal of support that he had years ago. When he ran the first time, he only had Reed, Florida, Gregali and Krewson against him. His opposition at the Board has more than tripled. It could get even worse because several Alderpersons have not endorsed abyone yet. Congratulations to Lewis Reed!!!!! He obviously can bring this City together having North, South and Central support. If this was Jefferson City or Washington, DC, Shrewsbury would be thrown out of the President's Office based on losing the majority of his members.

What about Darlene Green?

How does this scenario sound:

Darlene votes for BJC lease, endorses Lewis Reed.

"If this was Jefferson City or Washington, DC, Shrewsbury would be thrown out of the President's Office based on losing the majority of his members."

So you are advocating a charter reform measure whereby the leader of the legislative body is chosen from within rather than by city-wide vote?

According to the grape-vine Carter wanted to run for the Prez, but Reed got more support than he did so he's reluctantly supporting him. (Check the Polical Eye in the StL Anerican)

Jones-King and her committeeman are going with Shrewsberry to0.

I should take the opportunity to say it was very disingenuos of Shrewsberry not to offer a prayer to Jennifer Florida's son, that will cost him.
On the other hand, Bob Rice doesn't know jack about campaigning in North St. Louis - that will cost Reed.

Reed has every Ward endorsement in North St. Louis (1,2,3,4,5,18,19,22,27) except 21, plus some in the South(6,14,15) & Central corridors (26 & 28). Shrewsberry only has a few ward endorsements in South St. Louis, only the 8th in the Center, and only 21st on the N'Side.

You don't need a whole lot of money when you have as many organizations helping you as Reed does.

What is Bennice Jones-King thinking? How will she be viewed in the black community as the only African American alderman supporting Jim Shrewbury? Even Boyd, one of Shrewsbury's best northside allies is supporting Reed

What in it for Bennice politically to support Shrewbsury? Especially if Shrewsbury loses?

Bennice has already been ousted from office once. There's no doubt that there are other individuals in her area who could pursue her seat such as her previous challenger Melinda Long.

Maybe Bennice is pushing for the 21st ward to be the next ward moved to South St. Louis?

If Shrewsbury is elected, how will be Bennice be viewed in the aldermanic black caucus? She could have helped Reed win, but instead she supported his opponent. Wouldn't that make her a target?

Antonio, isn't the 21st ward your area?

Mayor Slay
Comptroller Green
Collector of Revenue Daly
Recorder of Deeds Carpenter
Treasurer Williams
State Sen. Smith

There's a lot of names missing from the reports, a lot of names more important or just as important as aldermen, depending on ward.

State Rep. & ward 16 committeeman Kratky is with Shrewsbury. His lege district party committee sent money from Husch law firm to Shrewsbury's campaign. In one day, out the next, reported received by Shrewsbury's campaign following day. Without the Husch check going to the district committee, Kratky's district committee could not have written the big check to Shrewsbury, did not have enough in account.

Where is ward 7, as in committeewoman Sen. Coleman and committeeman Party Chair Wahby, on this race?

Jones-King is endorsing the best candidate. Shrewsbury has probably actually been in her ward and attended a few of her meetings, unlike Reed.

But I guess if you think her ward is going to get moved to the south - you can count on Reed to sponsor the bill and vote in favor of it!

If Shrewsbury is the best candidate, why do so many alderpersons want him out?

You know who else had more money? Jim Talent.

Antonio-

Since we are in st. Louis, Did Talent have more money from St. Louis than McCaskill?

THE 14TH WARD GREGALI'S ALDERMAN DIDN'T HAVE A TRUE ENDORSEMENT IF YOU CONSIDER 8 TO 6 WHEN THE ROOM WAS FULL OF COULDN'T VOTE DUE TO BY LAWS..BUT THE TRUTH IS ACCORDING TO THE BY LAWS IT WASN'T A LEGAL ENDORSEMENT BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WERE NOT NOTIFIED 10 DAYS PRIOR ..THE(MAILING)WAS POSTMARKED fEB 3....ALSO THERE WAS NO ENDORSEMENT FOR UNOPPOSED GREGALI...WE ALL KNOW HE NEEDS A JOB SINCE THE UNION WENT DEFUNT HE WAS BUSINESS AGENT FOR AND SINCE JAN 31,2007 ONLY LEWIS REED HAS OFFERED HIM WORK.....