St. Louis mayor says she won't seek reelection next year

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson said Wednesday that she won't seek a second term.

Krewson, a Democrat, said she made the decision after celebrating her 68th birthday last weekend. She said birthdays "make you think about the future."

"I am now pushing 70," she said. "So after a lot of thinking and a lot of discussion with my family, I have decided to retire in April."

Krewson said her decision wasn't influenced by racial justice advocates' calls for her to resign. She came under fire in June after she publicly revealed the names and addresses of anti-police protesters.

Krewson was elected to be the city's first female mayor in 2017. Her husband was killed during an attempted carjacking in 1995, and Krewson campaigned as an anti-crime advocate. On Wednesday, she said she would continue working to reduce crime and to slow the spread of the coronavirus during her remaining days in office.

The next mayoral election is in April.

City voters earlier this month approved a measure requiring nonpartisan elections for mayor, comptroller, aldermanic president and alderman. Under the new system, the top two vote-getters in the March primary will face each other in the general election in April.

Krewson said the election change didn't influence her decision to retire, either. She declined to endorse a candidate to replace her.

City Treasurer Tishaura Jones announced plans to make another bid for mayor shortly after she won reelection this month, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. She lost to Krewson in the 2016 Democratic mayoral primary. Other candidates include Alderman Cara Spencer.