ST. LOUIS–The field of candidates for what should ultimately be a special election in November to elect an Aldermanic President in St. Louis now stands at two.

Alderwoman Megan Green, who ran for the post and lost to Lewis Reed in 2018, announced her intention to run earlier this week and followed that up with a Twitter thread on Friday. 

Reed resigned last week after he and now-former aldermen John Collins-Muhammad and Jeffrey Boyd were indicted on federal bribery charges. Each has entered not guilty pleas.

“Big movements start with people, just like you, who care. And who commit to not letting “good enough” be the end of the conversation. You deserve more,” Green wrote. “Together, let’s show them that the people who love this city outnumber those who would sell her for parts. Let’s show them that the people who want St. Louis to work for everyone outnumber those who’d leave our most vulnerable behind, in some empty, soulless quest for “progress.” Let’s show them what real progress – citywide progress – means.”

On Friday afternoon, fellow alderman Jack Coatar announced his entry to the race.

"St. Louis must be able to fix its roads and pick up its trash–and recognize that failure to provide basic services continues to fall hardest on Northside neighborhoods. For too many years, the excuse for not making the necessary investments was a lack of funding. Today that is no longer the case,” Coatar said, pointing to federal funds coming to St. Louis through the American Rescue Plan Act and the city’s eventual share of the settlement with the NFL and the Rams. “We must end our long-standing patterns of disinvestment, reduce gun violence, reverse our population decline, make neighborhoods more walkable, and pay our city workers–including police officers–a competitive wage that values them as the essential workers they are.”

Alderman Tom Oldenburg, considered a potential candidate himself for the post, instead endorsed Coatar.

Candidates are waiting for the city’s board of election commissioners to set a primary ahead of a general election between two candidates in November to fill out the rest of Reed’s four-year term, which expires in the spring.

Acting Board President Joe Vollmer has said he will not seek the position and will instead run for re-election to his aldermanic seat next April.