Lacy Clay

William Lacy Clay Jr. (born July 27, 1956) is an American politician who served as the U.S. Representative from Missouri's 1st congressional district from 2001 to 2021. His congressional career ended after he lost in a Democratic primary to Cori Bush in 2020.

For persons of a similar name, see William Clay.
Lacy Clay
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Missouri's 1st district
In office
January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2021
Preceded byBill Clay
Succeeded byCori Bush
Member of the Missouri Senate
from the 4th district
In office
September 1991 – January 2001
Preceded byJohn Bass
Succeeded byPat Dougherty
Member of the Missouri House of Representatives
from the 59th district
In office
November 1983 – September 1991
Preceded byNat Rivers
Succeeded byFrank Williamson
Personal details
Born
William Lacy Clay Jr.

(1956-07-27) July 27, 1956
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
Ivie Lewellen
​
​
(m. 1992; div. 2011)​
Children2
RelativesBill Clay (father)
EducationUniversity of Maryland, College Park (BA)

The district Clay represented is based in the city of St. Louis and includes most of northern St. Louis County (North County), including the cities of Maryland Heights, University City, Ferguson and Florissant.

Early life and education

William Lacy Clay Jr. was born in St. Louis, Missouri.[1] His family moved to Washington, D.C., when his father, Bill Clay, was elected to Congress. His mother was Carol Ann (nee Johnson).[2]

In his teenage years, Clay attended public schools in Silver Spring, Maryland, and graduated from Springbrook High School in 1974. He subsequently attended the University of Maryland, College Park, earning a degree in political science and a paralegal certificate. Clay is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He attended Howard University School of Law, worked as an Assistant Doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives, and worked on his father's Congressional campaigns.[3]

Missouri legislature

Clay entered the Missouri House of Representatives in 1983, winning a special election to complete the term of Nathaniel J. "Nat" Rivers.[4] In 1991, he was elected to the Missouri Senate.

U.S. House of Representatives

In 2000, Bill Clay announced his retirement after 32 years in Congress. His son, Lacy Clay, faced a three-way Democratic primary to succeed his father. Clay Jr. prevailed with 62% of the vote. He breezed to victory in the general election. He was reelected nine times, winning Democratic primaries by an average margin of 30 points. In ten general elections, Clay Jr. has received an average of 73.5% of the general election vote.

For his first six terms, Clay represented the northern two-thirds of St. Louis, while the southern third was in Missouri's 3rd congressional district, represented by Russ Carnahan. After Missouri lost a congressional district as a result of the 2010 census, the final map resulted in the 3rd district being eliminated and the 1st district absorbing all of St. Louis,[5] a decision in which then-U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill said Clay was involved for his self-interest.[6] Clay beat Carnahan in the August 7, 2012, primary, 63% to 34%.[7][8]

In the 2018 Democratic primary, he defeated Cori Bush, a Justice Democrat, and two other challengers with 56.7% of the vote. In the general election, Clay beat Republican Robert Vroman with 80% of the vote.

In the 2020 Democratic primary, he lost to Bush, with 45% of the vote to her 48%.[9]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Capitol painting

In January 2017, Clay argued with Republican lawmakers over the right to hang a controversial painting in the Capitol. The winner of an art competition, the painting represents the violent Ferguson unrest of 2014 and ensuing police-community relations in Ferguson, Missouri, depicting police officers as pigs while apprehending suspects. The painting is displayed near the police security checkpoint. Representative Duncan D. Hunter removed the painting and Clay rehung it. Several Republicans, including Doug Lamborn, Dana Rohrabacher, and Brian Babin, repeatedly removed the painting, and Clay rehung it each time. Clay then attempted to file a complaint with the Capitol Police accusing Hunter of theft.[14] After the architect of the U.S. Capitol ruled that the winning painting had violated the rules of the art competition and ordered its permanent removal, Clay sued to overturn the decision, but his suit was dismissed by a federal judge. Clay continued to assert a First Amendment argument on behalf of his young constituent, asking, "How is it possible that we stand for freedom of speech and freedom of expression every place across this country, except the U.S. Capitol?"[15]

Federal legislation to curb gun violence

In the 116th Congress, Clay introduced HR3435, the Local Public Health and Safety Protection Act, legislation that would, for the first time at the federal level, give local communities the freedom to enact regulations to curb gun violence without seeking permission from their state legislatures. The legislation grants local control over the issue via the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and by tying the law to future public safety grant funding to states from the U.S. Department of Justice. Support across the nation for Clay's bill is growing, with endorsements from Moms Demand Action Against Gun Violence, Newtown Action, Giffords Courage, Brady, and many other gun safety advocates.

Environment

While in his role as a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, Clay was an advocate for renewable energy, acting on climate change, cosponsoring the Green New Deal, protecting National Parks, national seashores, wildlife refuges, forests and rivers. He was also an outspoken champion for cleaning up hazardous waste sites in largely minority communities, which are often the victims of environmental racism. Clay led the effort to clean up three dangerous, hazardous sites in his district: $5 million for the former St. Louis Army Ammunition Plant in North St. Louis, $33 million for the former Carter Carburetor plant site in North St. Louis, and $266 million for the radiologically contaminated West Lake Landfill Superfund site in Northwest St. Louis County.

Political positions

During Clay's 17 years in the Missouri legislature, he authored Missouri's Hate Crimes Law, which included gender, sexual orientation and sexual identity in the criteria for what constitutes a hate crime.[16]

He was one of the 31 United States Representatives who voted not to count the electoral votes from Ohio in the 2004 presidential election.[17]

Clay voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.[18]

Clay is a supporter of the Federal Reserve's program of quantitative easing, claiming it has led to economic recovery since the financial crisis of 2007–2008.[19]

On December 18, 2019, Clay voted for both articles in the first impeachment of Donald Trump.[20]

Electoral history
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2000[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. 34,398 60.56
Democratic Charlie Dooley 15,612 27.48
Democratic Eric Erfan Vickers 3,543 6.24
Democratic Bill (William C.) Haas 1,602 2.82
Democratic Steven G. Bailey 1,144 2.01
Democratic Joe Mondrak 504 0.89
Total votes 56,803 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2000[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. 149,173 75.21
Republican Z. Dwight Billingsly 42,730 21.54
Green Brenda (Ziah) Reddick 3,099 1.56
Libertarian Tamara A. Millay 2,253 1.14
Reform Robert Penningroth 1,092 0.55
Total votes 198,347 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2002[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 41,405 74.30
Democratic Carl E. Harris 14,322 25.70
Total votes 55,727 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2002[24]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 133,946 70.11
Republican Richard Schwadron 51,755 27.09
Libertarian Jim Higgins 5,354 2.80
Total votes 191,055 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2004[25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 213,658 75.29
Republican Leslie L. Farr II 64,791 22.83
Libertarian Terry Chadwick 3,937 1.39
Constitution Robert Rehbein 1,385 0.49
Total votes 283,771 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2006[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 141,574 72.89
Republican Mark J. Byrne 47,893 24.66
Libertarian Robb E. Cunningham 4,768 2.45
Total votes 194,235 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2008[27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 242,570 86.86
Libertarian Robb E. Cunningham 36,700 13.14
Write-in votes Damien Johnson 7 0.00
Total votes 279,277 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2010[28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 37,041 81.25
Democratic Candice (Britt) Britton 8,546 18.75
Total votes 45,587 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2010[29]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 135,907 73.55
Republican Robyn Hamlin 43,649 23.62
Libertarian Julie Stone 5,223 2.83
Total votes 184,779 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2012[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 57,791 63.30
Democratic Russ Carnahan 30,943 33.89
Democratic Candice Britton 2,570 2.82
Total votes 91,304 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2012[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 267,927 78.67
Republican Robyn Hamlin 60,832 17.86
Libertarian Robb E. Cunningham 11,824 3.47
Total votes 340,583 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2014[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 119,315 72.98
Republican Daniel J. Elder 35,273 21.58
Libertarian Robb E. Cunningham 8,906 5.45
Total votes 163,494 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2016[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 56,139 62.64
Democratic Maria N. Chappelle-Nadal 24,059 26.85
Democratic (William) Bill Haas 9,422 10.51
Total votes 89,620 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2016[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 236,993 75.48
Republican Steven G. Bailey 62,714 19.97
Libertarian Robb E. Cunningham 14,317 4.56
Total votes 314,024 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2018[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 81,812 56.70
Democratic Cori Bush 53,250 36.91
Democratic Joshua Shipp 4,974 3.45
Democratic DeMarco K. Davidson 4,243 2.94
Total votes 144,279 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District General Election, 2018[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 219,781 80.10
Republican Robert Vroman 45,867 16.72
Libertarian Robb E. Cunningham 8,727 3.18
Total votes 274,375 100.0
Missouri 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2020[31]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Cori Bush 73,274 48.52
Democratic William Lacy Clay Jr. (incumbent) 68,887 45.61
Democratic Katherine Bruckner 8,850 5.86
Total votes 151,011 100.0

Personal life

Clay and his wife, Patricia, reside in University City, in Saint Louis County, Missouri. He is the father of two children, Carol and Will. He is Catholic.[32]

See also

References
  1. Rebecca McDowell Cook. Official Manual: State of Missouri 1997-1998. p. 112.
  2. "Lacy Clay ancestry". Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  3. Sutin, Phil (November 3, 1983). "Clay's Son Runs for Legislature". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, MO. p. 3N – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Steichen, Girard C. (November 9, 1983). "W. L. Clay Jr. Wins Contest for House". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, MO. p. 4A – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "UPDATE: House Redistricting Committee Unveils Map". OzarksFirst.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20200625012557/https://twitter.com/clairecmc/status/1275961493184409600. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. "William Lacy Clay wins easily over Russ Carnahan". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 8, 2012.
  8. "Missouri – Summary Vote Results". August 8, 2012.
  9. Benchaabane, Nassim. "'We the people have the answers': Cori Bush defeats longtime Rep. Lacy Clay in Democratic primary". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Ray Farris. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  10. "Membership". Congressional Black Caucus. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  11. "Caucus Members". Congressional Progressive Caucus. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  12. "Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  13. "Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  14. Marcos, Cristina (January 13, 2017). "Democrat re-hangs painting depicting cops as pigs". The Hill. Retrieved January 13, 2017. The painting has inflamed tensions on Capitol Hill between the two parties. The Hill asked Representative Cedric Richmond, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, if the painting needed someone to monitor it to prevent further removals. "No," Richmond replied. "We might just have to kick somebody's ass and stop them, though."
  15. Gangitano, Alex (April 26, 2017). "Clay Brings Controversial Costituent Painting to House Floor". Roll Call. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  16. Carey, Charles (2014). African-American Political Leaders. Infobase Publishing. p. 52. ISBN 9781438107806.
  17. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll007.xml
  18. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll674.xml#NV
  19. See his opening statement in the video: "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-05-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. Panetta, Grace (December 18, 2019). "WHIP COUNT: Here's which members of the House voted for and against impeaching Trump". Business Insider. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  21. "Official Election Returns State of Missouri Primary Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  22. "Official Election Returns State of Missouri General Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  23. "Official Election Returns State of Missouri Primary Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  24. "Official Election Returns State of Missouri General Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  25. "Official Election Returns State of Missouri General Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  26. "Official Election Returns State of Missouri General Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  27. "Official Election Returns State of Missouri General Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  28. "Official Election Returns State of Missouri Primary Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  29. "Official Election Returns State of Missouri General Election" (PDF). Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  30. "Missouri Election Results Election Night Reporting". Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  31. "State of Missouri - Primary Election, August 04, 2020". Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  32. Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. "Religious affiliation of members of 116th Congress" (PDF). pewforum.org. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Bill Clay		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Missouri's 1st congressional district
2001–2021		 Succeeded by
Cori Bush
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