William Lacy Clay Jr. (born July 27, 1956) is an American politician who served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from from 2001 to 2021. His congressional career ended after he lost in a

Democratic primary This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries. 1912 This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the Un ...

Cori Bush Cori Anika Bush (born July 21, 1976) is an American politician, nurse, pastor, and Black Lives Matter activist who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2021 to 2025. The district includes all of the ...

in 2020, after successfully defeating her in the 2018 primary. The district Clay represented is based in the city of

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

and includes most of northern St. Louis County (North County), including the cities of

Maryland Heights Maryland Heights is a second-ring west-northwest suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 27,472 at the 2010 census. The city was incorporated in 1985. Edwin L. Dirck was appointed the city's ...

, University City, Ferguson and Florissant.

Early life and education

William Lacy Clay Jr. was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. His family moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, when his father,

Bill Clay William Lacy "Bill" Clay Sr. (born April 30, 1931) is an American politician from Missouri who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri's 1st congressional district representing portions of St. Louis for 3 ...

, was elected to Congress. His mother was Carol Ann (née Johnson). In his teenage years, Clay attended public schools in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

, and graduated from

Springbrook High School Springbrook High School is an American public high school, located in Montgomery County, Maryland, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It is located within the White Oak census-designated place, and has a Silver Spring mailing address. I ...

in 1974. He subsequently attended the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

, earning a degree in political science and a

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant or paralegal specialist, is a legal professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with an admission to practice law. The market for p ...

certificate. Clay is a member of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

fraternity. He attended

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the old ...

, worked as an Assistant

Doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives An appointed officer of the United States House of Representatives from 1789 until 1995, the doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives was chosen by a resolution at the opening of each United States Congress. The Office of the D ...

, and worked on his father's Congressional campaigns.

Missouri Legislature

Clay entered the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

in 1983, winning a special election to complete the term of Nathaniel J. "Nat" Rivers. In 1991, he was elected to the

Missouri Senate The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 181,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...

U.S. House of Representatives

In 2000, Bill Clay announced his retirement after 32 years in Congress. His son, Lacy Clay, faced a three-way Democratic primary to succeed his father. Clay Jr. prevailed with 62% of the vote. He breezed to victory in the general election. He was reelected nine times, winning Democratic primaries by an average margin of 30 points. In ten general elections, Clay Jr. has received an average of 73.5% of the general election vote. For his first six terms, Clay represented the northern two-thirds of St. Louis, while the southern third was in Missouri's 3rd congressional district, represented by

Russ Carnahan John Russell Carnahan (born July 10, 1958) is an American politician from the state of Missouri. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. representative for from 2005 to 2013. At the time, the district included the southern thir ...

. After Missouri lost a congressional district as a result of the 2010 census, the final map resulted in the 3rd district being eliminated and the 1st district absorbing all of St. Louis, a decision in which then-

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Claire McCaskill Claire Conner McCaskill (; born July 24, 1953) is an American former politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019 and as State Auditor of Missouri, state auditor of Missouri from 1999 to ...

said Clay was involved for his self-interest. Clay beat Carnahan in the August 7, 2012, primary, 63% to 34%. In the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Democratic primary, he defeated

, a

Justice Democrat Justice Democrats (JD) is an American progressive political action committee and caucus founded on January 23, 2017, by two leaders of Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign, Saikat Chakrabarti and Zack Exley, as well as political com ...

, and two other challengers with 56.7% of the vote. In the general election, Clay beat Republican Robert Vroman with 80% of the vote. In the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Democratic primary, he lost to Bush, with 45% of the vote to her 48%.

Committee assignments

Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the United States congressional committee, committee of the United States ...

**Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance (Chairman) *

United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one o ...

** United States House Natural Resources Committee

Caucus memberships

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is made up of Black members of the United States Congress. Representative Yvette Clarke from New York, the current chairperson, succeeded Steven Horsford from Nevada in 2025. Although most members belong ...

Congressional Progressive Caucus The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the progressive faction of the Democratic Party. " e Congressional Progressive Caucus, ...

United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus The U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus, founded in September 2003, is a bipartisan congressional organization with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advan ...

Congressional Arts Caucus The Congressional Arts Caucus is a registered Congressional Member Organization for the US House of Representatives in the 115th Congress. History The Congressional Arts Caucus was created in the 1980s as a way for the various members of Congr ...

Capitol painting

In January 2017, Clay argued with Republican lawmakers over the right to hang a controversial painting in the Capitol building. The winner of an art competition, the painting represents the violent

Ferguson unrest The Ferguson unrest (sometimes called the Ferguson uprising, Ferguson protests, or the Ferguson riots) was a series of protests and riots which began in Ferguson, Missouri on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal Killing of Michael Brown, ...

of 2014 and ensuing police-community relations in Ferguson, Missouri, depicting police officers as pigs while apprehending suspects. The painting is displayed near the police security checkpoint. Representative Duncan Hunter removed the painting and Clay rehung it. Several Republicans, including

Doug Lamborn Douglas Lawrence Lamborn (born May 24, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2025. He is a member of the Republican Party. His district was based in Colorado Springs. On January 5, ...

Dana Rohrabacher Dana Tyrone Rohrabacher ( ; born June 21, 1947) is an American former politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 to 2019. Representing for the last three terms of his House tenure ...

, and

Brian Babin Brian Philip Babin ( ; born March 23, 1948) is an American dentist, politician and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 2015 ...

, repeatedly removed the painting, and Clay rehung it each time. Clay then attempted to file a complaint with the Capitol Police accusing Hunter of theft. After the

Architect of the Capitol The Architect of the Capitol is the Federal government of the United States, federal Government agency, agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex. It is an agency of t ...

ruled that the winning painting had violated the rules of the competition and ordered its permanent removal, Clay sued to overturn the decision, but the suit was dismissed by a federal judge. Clay continued to assert a First Amendment argument on behalf of his young constituent, asking, "How is it possible that we stand for freedom of speech and freedom of expression every place across this country, except the U.S. Capitol?"

Federal legislation to curb gun violence

In the 116th Congress, Clay introduced HR 3435, the Local Public Health and Safety Protection Act, legislation that would, for the first time at the federal level, give local communities the freedom to enact regulations to curb gun violence without seeking permission from their state legislatures. The legislation grants local control over the issue via the

Supremacy Clause The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution of the United States ( Article VI, Clause 2) establishes that the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the "supreme Law of the Land", and th ...

of the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constituti ...

and by tying the law to future public safety grant funding to states from the U.S. Department of Justice. Support across the nation for Clay's bill is growing, with endorsements from Moms Demand Action Against Gun Violence, Newtown Action, Giffords Courage, Brady, and many other gun control advocates.

Environment

While in his role as a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, Clay was an advocate for renewable energy, acting on climate change, cosponsoring the Green New Deal, protecting National Parks, national seashores, wildlife refuges, forests, and rivers. He was also an outspoken champion for cleaning up hazardous waste sites in largely minority communities, which are often the victims of

environmental racism Environmental racism, ecological racism, or ecological apartheid is a form of racism leading to negative environmental outcomes such as landfills, Incineration, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal disproportionately impacting Community ...

. Clay led the effort to clean up three dangerous, hazardous sites in his district: $5 million for the former St. Louis Army Ammunition Plant in North St. Louis, $33 million for the former Carter Carburetor plant site in North St. Louis, and $266 million for the radiologically contaminated West Lake Landfill Superfund site in Northwest St. Louis County.

Political positions

During Clay's 17 years in the Missouri legislature, he authored Missouri's Hate Crimes Law, which included gender, sexual orientation and sexual identity in the criteria for what constitutes a

hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...

. He was one of the 31 United States Representatives who voted not to count the

electoral votes An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliamenta ...

from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

in the 2004 presidential election. Clay voted against the

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, also known as the "bank bailout of 2008" or the "Wall Street bailout", was a United States federal law enacted during the Great Recession, which created federal programs to "bail out" failing fi ...

. Clay is a supporter of the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

's program of

quantitative easing Quantitative easing (QE) is a monetary policy action where a central bank purchases predetermined amounts of government bonds or other financial assets in order to stimulate economic activity. Quantitative easing is a novel form of monetary polic ...

, claiming it has led to economic recovery after the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. On December 18, 2019, Clay voted for both articles in the

first impeachment of Donald Trump Donald Trump, serving as the 45th president of the United States, was impeached for the first time on December 18, 2019. On that date, the House of Representatives adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump: abuse of power and obstru ...

Electoral history

Personal life

Clay married his first wife, Ivie, in 1992, when he was a state senator. He filed for divorce in 2009. Ivie initially found out about the divorce "only through the media." Through her lawyer, she stated: "“I and my children are devastated and embarrassed that my husband let us find out from the children’s friends and the media that he had filed for divorce, and mostly that he still has not contacted our children. I would have wanted to prepare the children." The divorce was finalized in 2011. Clay later remarried and he and his wife, Patricia, reside in University City, in

St Louis County, Missouri St. Louis County is located in eastern Missouri. It is bounded by the City of St. Louis and the Mississippi River to the east, the Missouri River to the north, and the Meramec River to the south. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,0 ...

. He is the father of two children, Carol and Will III. He is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Lacy 1956 births Living people 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century members of the Missouri General Assembly 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 21st-century Missouri politicians 21st-century Roman Catholics African-American Catholics African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American state legislators in Missouri African-American people in Missouri politics American Roman Catholics Catholics from Missouri Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri Democratic Party Missouri state senators Politicians from St. Louis University of Maryland, College Park alumni