Lesley McSpadden Defeated In Ferguson City Race

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Lesley McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown, whose death at the hands of a Ferguson, Missouri police officer launched a resounding call and accompanying movement, Black Lives Matter, just lost her bid for a city council seat.

McFadden lost in a three-way race for Ferguson’s 3rd Ward to Fran Griffin, who also beat out Keith Kallstrom, the incumbent, according to USA Today.

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McFadden congratulated Kallstrom on her win in an email to the outlet, saying, “I feel proud of the positive race we ran, and I loved talking to the Ferguson community.”

“I wanted to go back and do something right in a place that did something so very wrong to my son, and I think that’s what my son would want as well,” McFadden said in an interview with the Associated Press prior to the election.

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The death of Brown spurred nationwide attention and a Department of Justice review which uncovered layers of corruption. McSpadden was then launched into the national spotlight as another unlucky member of a group of Black women who lost their children during a police encounter.

She became a member of Mother’s of The Movement, a group which advocated for widespread gun reform and appeared at the Democratic National Convention in 2016 to stump for Hillary Clinton. McFadden’s run for office follows in the same footsteps as fellow Mother of The Movement Lucy McBath, who lost her son, Jordan Davis, to gun violence. In 2018, McBath won to become a representative for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.

McSpadden previously announced her intention to run for office last summer, and ran on a campaign which promoted community policing, mental health and wellness. The seat which she specifically sought to run for would have a crucial part in overseeing the city’s police department.

“I chose to come back to a place that caused me pain to make it right for them (residents),” she said. “Michael’s death has taken so much out of me, but if I can help others, I would go through this process again and again and again.”

However, she said her fight does not end with the race.

“Tomorrow, the work continues and I intend to be a part of it no matter my position,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

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