FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) – Small-community municipal elections don’t typically merit much attention, but Tuesday’s City Council race in Ferguson has attracted intense media coverage and efforts to boost voter participation with help from national organizations.
The election is the first since the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer last summer put the St. Louis suburb and its law enforcement under a microscope. A St. Louis County grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice cleared Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, in the death of the black, unarmed 18-year-old. A separate DOJ report found racial bias and profiling in the Police Department and a revenue-generating municipal court system that disproportionally targets black residents.
Two-thirds of Ferguson’s 21,000 residents are black, but the mayor and five of the six council members are white. The lone black councilman is not up for re-election.
The council’s racial makeup will change as it will gain at least one more black member. The 3rd Ward has two black candidates. The 1st Ward has two black and two white candidates, while both men running in the 2nd Ward are white.
Ferguson staggers elections for three-year terms, so three council members and Mayor James Knowles III are not facing election this year.