Kimberly Gardner, St. Louis’ top prosecutor, won Tuesday’s Democratic primary by a healthy margin, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Gardner, who is completing her first term, defeated former assistant prosecutor Mary Pat Carl 61 percent to 39 percent. She will face Republican challenger Daniel Zdrodowski in November. He ran unopposed Tuesday. Gardner, 45, the first Black woman elected circuit attorney in St. Louis, has promised to continue criminal justice reform efforts. Her controversial first term has been highlighted by tensions with police and criticism of her leadership as well as prosecutions of powerful people, including a Missouri governor. She described her opponents as “status quo tacticians” who have waged racial, political, and sexist attacks on her reform efforts. She has received racist death threats.
“I feel humbled,” Gardner told supporters at a rooftop warehouse watch party Tuesday night. “This is an exciting time, but this is also the people’s time. This is about the people who elected me, the people…who sent a resounding message that they want reform in the city of St. Louis.” Carl, 43, came in second to Gardner in a field of four Democrats in the 2016 primary. She campaigned on her more than 14 years of experience. She pledged to restore stability to an office that has weathered dramatic turnover under Gardner. Carl had hoped to end cash bail and hold amnesty days for those who miss court dates. She, like Gardner, supports closing the city’s Medium Security Institution, known as the workhouse. Gardner said she had worked to hold police accountable and reduce crime by focusing on its roots — poverty, addiction, and mental health. Gardner took credit for a declining jail population through pretrial diversion programs and no longer prosecuting people for small amounts of marijuana.