Bicycle candidates win big in today's elections

We know of two candidates in today's municipal elections who made bicycling and walking issues a big part of their campaigns--and both won big today. 

Fred Schmidt

Fred Schmidt, Columbia
Fred Schmidt, running for city council in Ward 1 of Columbia, is Treasurer of the Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Federation, has worked and volunteered many hundreds of hours of the GetAbout Columbia Project, and served on the Columbia Bicycle/Pedestrian Commission.  All of these factored heavily in media coverage of Schmidt's campaign.

Scott Ogilvie

Schmidt won the election today with 60 percent of the vote.  Of his three challengers, the highest vote-getter received only 24%. http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/apr/05/absentee-ballots-give-ea... ">More details in the Columbia Tribune.

Scott Ogilvie, St Louis
Scott Ogilvie of St. Louis featured bicycle and pedestrian issues prominenty in his run for the Ward 24 Alderman post.  He made direct appeals to the St. Louis cycling community for support.

Evidently it paid off--because Ogilvie won his election handily, 61% to 38%.

Congratulations to these new elected officials!

We encourage bicyclists and pedestrians across Missouri to be the vote--run for office, and include bicycle and pedestrian issues in your campaign. 

As you can see from these two examples, it can be very effective and once in office you can make a real difference to your community.

Please let us know if you hear about other candidates who make bicycle and pedestrian issues and important part of their platform.

An important part of MoBikeFed's Vision of Bicycling and Walking in Missouri is building a movement in support of bicycling and walking in Missouri.  That includes educating elected officials and encouraging bicyclists, pedestrians, and trails supporters to be the vote by running for office. Bicyclists and pedestrians understand these issues better than anyone--and when you run for office, you have a real chance to change Missouri for the better.