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There are 14 candidates running for mayor and four open seats on the Springfield City Council.
Two of the open council seats represent the entire city, while one open position represents Zone 1 in Springfield s northwest quadrant and the other represents Zone 4 in the southeast.
Here s an overview of who is running in the order they will appear on the ballot. For more in-depth information about the candidates and their policies, go online to news-leader.com.
Mayor
Ken McClure (Incumbent)
Background: McClure, 70, has been mayor of Springfield since 2017. He grew up in Springfield and lived here much of his life. For 25 years, he left for Jefferson City where he served in several roles, including chief of staff and transition director for Republican Gov. Matt Blunt and chair of the Missouri Public Service Commission. McClure returned to Springfield and worked at Missouri State University as a vice president before retiring in 2015.
The Springfield City Council voiced its support Thursday for removing 50 percent occupancy restrictions on local businesses starting April 16 amid consistently low COVID-19 case growth and growing percentages of vaccinated residents.
At a lunch meeting, interim health director Katie Towns said the community had already reached required thresholds of keeping the 7-day rolling daily case average below 40 and hospitalizations below 50 for at least 28 days.
But the community has yet to reach the required 25 percent of the population fully vaccinated to move in to the yellow phase of reopening.
Towns said she expected to reach that milestone by April 16th as the state continues to open up vaccine eligibility and Missouri State University hosts a mass immunization event for 10,000 people on April 8 and 9 with the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine.