Congressman Lacy Clay: Ass Clown of the Week

By Chad Garrison Mon., May 11 2009 at 10:37 AM

Categories: Ass Clown of the Week

U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay

Lacy Clay knows a thing or two about winning elections. The congressman beat out a crowded primary field back in 2000 to take over the seat left vacant from his father and fellow congressman William Clay.

Since then, Clay Jr. has gone on to win re-election four times, never earning less than 70 percent of the vote. So, perhaps it was a bit unfair of us to throw him in the ring for last week's Ass Clown award. The odds -- you might say -- were in his favor.

And true to form, 66 percent of voters believed Clay's recent divorce filing -- that he apparently made without first informing his wife and children -- qualified him as the local newsmaker most worthy of public ridicule last week.

Coming in second, with 21 percent of the vote, was Mariano Favazza, clerk of the St. Louis City Circuit Court, who kept Clay's divorce filing out of the hands of reporters until the congressman's attorneys could get a judge to seal the case.

A distant third and fourth place with 8 percent and 6 percent of the vote, respectively, went to Bobbie Brantley, a woman charged with threatening to blow a judges "head off his shoulders" after he ruled against her, and Jennifer Lutke Reynolds, a lingerie broker accused of questionable business practices.

Thanks everyone for voting. Back at you Friday with a new round of candidates.