KIRKWOOD, Mo. (AP) - Jayson Thornton knew his campaign for the Kirkwood City Council couldn’t avoid the legacy of a troubled uncle who shot and killed six public servants in a 2008 City Hall rampage before he was shot and killed by police.
And while the 30-year-old Kirkwood accountant and political neophyte fell short in a Tuesday election against two incumbents and another former Kirkwood council member, Thornton and his supporters called the grassroots campaign a symbolic victory in a community where a racial divide that was a backdrop to the deadly events of six years ago continues to persist.
“Many of us have the same vision of what we want,” Thornton said. “Our community has really shown that we’re a strong community that’s moved beyond the past. We’re trying to march toward the triumph of our future.”
Thornton said he decided to seek office just days before the February filing deadline, encouraged by other leaders of the predominantly black Meacham Park neighborhood who don’t feel like their voices are heard in Kirkwood. The roots of the discord date back at least two decades, when Kirkwood annexed the neighborhood but then used eminent domain to force out homeowners to build a large shopping center.
According to unofficial St. Louis County election results, Thornton finished fourth among the four council candidates with 1,329 votes. The three winning candidates - Timothy Griffin, Bob Sears and Paul Ward - each received between 1,722 and 1,883 votes. Griffin and Sears are white while Ward and Thornton are black. Kirkwood elects its council members at large rather than via city wards; officeholders who serve consecutive four-year terms can seek election anew after sitting out at least two years.
Charles “Cookie” Thornton, who owned a demolition and paving business, stormed Kirkwood City Hall on Feb. 7, 2008, killing one police officer on his way inside and a second in the council chambers as he yelled “Shoot the mayor.” Two council members and the city public works director were also killed, and Mayor Mike Swoboda died several months later from shooting-related complications.
Cookie Thornton was a well-known gadfly whose family members said he felt singled out by city officials after receiving a bevy of parking tickets and permit citations. He had lost a federal free-speech lawsuit against the St. Louis suburb 10 days before the rampage and left a suicide note on his bed warning that “The truth will come out in the end.”
Jayson Thornton said that while there was no possible way to justify his uncle’s actions he remembers a very different Cookie Thornton than the one portrayed after his death as a cold-blooded killer.
“The uncle I knew was the basketball coach of my older brother’s YMCA team. A guy that always had a smile on his face and a good word to give,” Thornton said. “I can’t conceive the pressure or the things that would have made that day possible.”
Despite Thornton’s efforts to distance his campaign from the 2008 shooting, fellow candidate Paul Ward acknowledged that “it certainly played a part.” At the same time, Thornton’s strong showing against experienced politicians two decades his senior showed that voters treated the newcomer’s candidacy on its own merits.
“The fact that he was able to get 1,300 votes tells you something about the community,” Ward said. “Forget about the Thornton name. He certainly impressed people.”
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