Nasheed stumps with McCaskill in North St. Louis

In an effort to galvanize St. Louis voters ahead of the November 6 midterm elections, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) and state Senator Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis) conducted a mini-tour around St. Louis on Thursday, November 1. Campaign stops included coffee shops in the Central West End, The Griot Museum, Teatopia, the Homer G. Phillips Senior Living Center, and Vandeventer Place.

The politicians’ fraternization with potential voters came less than a week before the elections, which Nasheed referred to as a ”defining moment in our country’s history.”

“This is not about Claire. This is about tearing down the walls of Donald Trump,” Nasheed told The American. 

Trump has visited Missouri repeatedly to campaign for McCaskill’s Republican challenger, Josh Hawley, who is currently Missouri’s attorney general and has expressed unconditional support for Trump.

“When it comes to his bigotry, hatred, and all the things he stands for as a president, we cannot allow for someone who thinks the way he thinks, acts the way he acts, to win here in the state of Missouri as a senator for the United States,” Nasheed said.

Trump is scheduled to visit Missouri twice within a week to rally support for Hawley before the election.

“That should tell people in the community all they need to know about what Josh Hawley is and who he will be,” McCaskill told The American. “I hope that will motivate people.”

Forty-six states will hold legislative races in the November midterm, which includes 87 races in 99 of the nation's 99 legislative chambers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Inside the basement of St. Louis’ only black history museum, The Griot Museum, McCaskill addressed a small audience, which included state Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. (D-St. Louis) and Rasheen Aldridge, the Democratic committeeman for St. Louis’ 5^th Ward. She told them that her Senate seat is important because of Republican attacks on Medicare, health care, Social Security, criminal justice reform, and voting rights.

According to McCaskill,  Missouri Republican legislators have held the “farm bill hostage in the House because they want to cut the SNAP program.” The Farm Bill is legislation that authorizes the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food and agricultural programs. According to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 80 percent of the farm bill’s funding will go to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), food for the poor.

Cydney Johnson, 28, a candidate for the St. Louis Public Schools Board of Education on the November 6 ballot, asked McCaskill how voters can hold her accountable because it seems that “politicians only make their presence felt during election periods.”

McCaskill said her votes for over 36-years as a politician has proved her loyalty to the black communities in Missouri. In her past, McCaskill has voted in support of raising the minimum wage, repairing infrastructure, transportation funding, and resources for urban parks.

The NAACP scored McCaskill 94 percent on its most recent legislative scorecard. Of the 18 votes the NAACP tracked, McCaskill was perfect except on the vote to confirm Tom Price as the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. McCaskill did not cast a vote. McCaskill opposed the nomination but missed the vote to attend her husband’s heart surgery.

Sherman King, 70, a resident of North County, proudly met McCaskill during the tour stop at Kingside Diner. King told The American he thinks McCaskill is “the lady for us,” but thinks she is facing a “hard battle” with voter suppression and confusion at the polls. Throughout the country, attacks of voter suppression and confusion have recently took place, including Georgia officials ordering senior citizens off a bus that was taking them to go vote.

“They’re not operating voting places right. There not open on time. I think this is all a ploy to not let the right folks in to do the job,” King told The American.

“Last election we had some places open late. Why has that happened? And why can’t they keep a tally? We can put our credit card into a device and everything works fine, but we can’t get voting right. What’s up with that?”

According to Census data, the national black voter turnout has declined in recent midterm elections. However, new data shows Missouri  has 87,000 new – mostly black – voter registrations completed. 

“Alice Walker once said something pretty powerful,” McCaskill told The American. “She said, ‘The most common way people lose power is by thinking they don’t have any.’ I don’t think everybody realizes how powerful they are in this term.”

McCaskill appealed for people to get engaged in getting people to vote on November 6.

“What I mostly need,” McCaskill said, “is everyone to be able to find five people.”

Absentee voting for the November 6 election is underway. On Election Day, the polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Look up your polling location at Bit.ly/lookuppoll. For a ride to the polls, call Souls to the Polls at 314-562-0411. You don’t need a photo ID to vote. If asked for a photo ID, call the election board (314-622-4800 in the city, 314-615-1800 in the county). If you encounter problems at the polls, call the Missouri Election Protection Coalition hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).