The Political Campaign
Most observers thought that the educational campaign had succeeded in shifting public sentiment on the value of public transit. But the political campaign still faced an uphill battle. The transit tax had failed in 1997 and 2008. Why would it be different this time?
Political campaigns in St. Louis are traditionally run by a small group of insiders led by top politicians and corporate donors. CMT convinced Metro and political leaders to instead make this a community-run effort. And so Vote YES on Prop A was led by a 40-member steering committee, co-chaired by Washington University Chancellor Mark Wrighton and Donald Suggs, editor of the St. Louis American, the region’s African-American newspaper.
This group complemented the St. Louis Transit Alliance, a coalition of 50 community groups that CMT formed to run the GOTV effort. Wrighton and Washington University played a key role in the campaign, contributing $75,000 and reassuring corporate donors in the wake of initial business opposition. (Civic Progress eventually endorsed Prop A and released its members to contribute but did not directly give to the campaign.)
In a surprising move, Metro President Bob Baer, with the support of St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, chose John Nations, the Republican mayor of suburban Chesterfield, to head the campaign. Nations had been a strong supporter of transit, leading an effort to raise funds in his suburb to make up for cuts in bus service. By stressing that strong public transit was necessary for regional economic prosperity, Nations increased the comfort level of Republicans in supporting the tax increase.
Building on the “Some of us ride it. All of us need it” theme, Nations frequently told the story of meeting a woman from Chesterfield who did not ride the bus and who had previously seen Prop A as “just another tax.” But she changed her mind when she found out that the people who took care of her mother in a nursing home, “who my mom loves,” rely on public transit.
About the Author
Comments