HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Cara Spencer (born September 11, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 48th and current mayor of St. Louis, Missouri. She served on the St. Louis Board of Aldermen as alderwoman of Ward 8 from 2023 to 2025; she represented Ward 20 from 2015 to 2023. Spencer ran in the 2021 St. Louis mayoral election, finishing second in the primary election, then losing the general election to Tishaura Jones. In the 2025 election, she defeated Jones. She is the city's third consecutive female mayor.


Early life and education

Spencer grew up in South St. Louis City and St. Louis County. She is a graduate of Parkway South High School, located in west St. Louis County. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
from
Truman State University Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a Public university, public Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Kirksville, Missouri, United States. It had 3,664 enrolled students in the fall of 2024 pursuing degrees in 55 undergraduate ...
. Before becoming an elected official, Spencer did
mathematical model A mathematical model is an abstract and concrete, abstract description of a concrete system using mathematics, mathematical concepts and language of mathematics, language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed ''mathematical m ...
ing for the St. Louis-based company Tessellon. In 2011, she had a son named Cy Spencer.


Politics

Spencer served on the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, she represented Ward 8, which consists of Downtown St. Louis, Soulard, and Lafayette Square. Between 2015 and 2023, she represented Ward 20, which included the South St. Louis neighborhoods of Dutchtown, Gravois Park, Marine Villa, and Mount Pleasant.


Board of Aldermen - Ward 20

Spencer was elected an alderman in April 2015 after defeating incumbent Craig Schmid, who had held the seat for two decades, in the Democratic primary election. She then defeated independent candidate Stephen Jehle and Green Party candidate Vickie Ingram in the general election. During her first term in office, she was the primary sponsor of legislation that enacted stricter campaign finance laws, imposed stricter air pollution standards than state requirements on asbestos in demolitions, required absentee landlords to pay fines for building code violations, imposed fines on payday lending operators, and protected victims of drug overdose by enacting the 1st municipal good Samaritan law in the US, granting immunity to drug possession charges to anyone calling 911 for help during an overdose. Spencer co-developed and helped implement the "mow-to-own" program allowing residents to obtain an adjacent city-owned lot by mowing it for one year. Spencer helped stop the St. Louis Lambert International Airport from being
privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
. In 2016, an
ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
complaint was filed against Spencer by attorney Jane Dueker, alleging that Spencer failed to disclose a personal financial interest related to legislation she introduced regulating payday lending. The case was dismissed. Spencer was re-elected in 2019. In August 2020, Spencer was the target of a
petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...
to recall her from her position as Alderwoman. The petition was organized by Metropolitan Strategies and Solution, a
consulting firm A consulting firm or simply consultancy is a professional service firm that provides expertise and specialised labour for a fee, through the use of consultants. Consulting firms may have one employee or thousands; they may consult in a broad ra ...
that supported privatization efforts. Spencer served as the chair of the Health and Human Services Committee.


2021 St. Louis mayoral election

On January 13, 2020, Spencer announced her intention to run for mayor of St. Louis in 2021. The 2021 election was the city's first use of approval voting. Spencer, along with Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, were endorsed by the '' St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' Editorial Board in a joint endorsement (since voters could now select more than one candidate in the primary election). Spencer was also endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Advocates of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri and former St. Louis mayor Vincent C. Schoemehl. Spencer, alongside St. Louis treasurer Tishaura Jones, advanced to the general election after the primary on March 2, 2021. Spencer was defeated by Jones in the general election held on April 6, 2021.


Board of Aldermen - Ward 8

Following the city's 2021 redistricting and reduction of the number of wards, Spencer was elected alderman for Ward 8 in 2023. She served as Chair of the Budget and Public Employees Committee, and Vice-Chair of the Transportation and Commerce Committee.


2025 St. Louis mayoral election

On May 23, 2024, Spencer declared her second bid for mayor of St. Louis in 2025, challenging the incumbent Jones. On March 4, Spencer won the nonpartisan primary for mayor of St. Louis, earning 68% of the vote. On April 8, 2025, Spencer defeated Jones in the general election, receiving 64.2% of the popular vote.


Mayor of St. Louis

On April 15, 2025, Spencer was sworn in as the 48th mayor of St. Louis.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Cara 1970s births 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century mayors of places in Missouri 21st-century Missouri politicians Living people Mayors of St. Louis Members of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen Missouri Democrats Truman State University alumni Women in Missouri politics Women mayors of places in Missouri