St. Louis Votes launches campaign to boost Jewish turnout in Missouri’s Aug. 4 primary

Ellen Futterman, Editor-in-Chief

Published July 7, 2026

St. Louis Votes is launching a new effort to boost Jewish voter participation ahead of Missouri’s Aug. 4 primary election, hoping to build on a campaign that organizers say dramatically outperformed overall voter turnout during the last election cycle.

The nonpartisan civic engagement initiative is aiming to recruit 25 synagogues, Jewish schools and community organizations to help mobilize 15,000 voters across the St. Louis area for the August primary. Volunteers and participating institutions can sign up through the organization’s website.

Building on 2024

The campaign follows St. Louis Votes’ inaugural voter turnout effort in 2024, when organizers say participating institutions achieved a 71% voter turnout rate among their members, compared with Missouri’s overall 31% turnout in that primary election.

Founded to build long-term civic engagement within the St. Louis Jewish community, St. Louis Votes is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) voter turnout initiative that focuses exclusively on increasing voter participation, particularly in traditionally low-turnout elections. Rather than endorsing candidates or political parties, the organization partners with synagogues, Jewish schools and community organizations to encourage voting through trusted relationships and community-based outreach.

“Extremism, antisemitism and the future of Missouri’s democracy are on the ballot on Aug. 4, 2026,” said Benjamin Singer, CEO of St. Louis Votes, a project of the Show Me Integrity Education Fund. “Jewish St. Louisans deserve the same safety, dignity and respect as any other community, and when we show up in record numbers, elected officials notice. We can’t just complain. We have to vote in the August election, where the real decisions are made for our democracy. Don’t just kvetch. Vote.”

Why the effort focuses on Jewish institutions

Because St. Louis Votes operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, organizers say it can legally organize voter engagement efforts within synagogues, Jewish community centers and schools, places where partisan campaigns and political action committees are prohibited from campaigning.

Participating institutions are asked to sign a public Leadership & Clergy Sign-On Letter, create volunteer teams and use relational organizing tools to encourage members and their networks—including those not affiliated with a Jewish organization—to vote.

“I think it’s our responsibility to vote. What is good about St. Louis Votes is that it’s not about any campaign, it’s about saying we have a voice. And we have a voice by voting,” said Rabbi Brigitte Rosenberg of United Hebrew Congregation.

Looking ahead to Aug. 4

Organizers say the August primary is particularly important because many Missouri races are effectively decided before the November general election. The Aug. 4 primary features several high-profile contests, including the Democratic rematch between U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell and former Rep. Cori Bush in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District and the open race for St. Louis County executive, where three prominent Democrats – Jake Zimmerman, Brian Williams and Angela Walton Mosley — are vying to succeed Sam Page. For a relatively small community such as the St. Louis Jewish community, they argue, higher voter participation is one of the most effective ways to ensure community concerns are heard by elected officials.

A community-wide Zoom kickoff meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 9, at 6:30 p.m. Clergy, rabbis and community leaders are invited to learn about the campaign, sign the Leadership & Clergy Sign-On Letter and begin coordinating voter outreach efforts within their institutions.

More information, including volunteer opportunities and the Leadership & Clergy Sign-On Letter, is available at stlouisvotes.org.

About the Contributor

Ellen Futterman, Editor-in-Chief

A native of Westbury, New York, Ellen Futterman broke into the world of big city journalism as a general assignment reporter for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner in the latter part of the 20th century. Deciding that Tinsel Town was not exciting enough for her, she moved on to that hub of glamour and sophistication, Belleville, Ill., where she became a feature writer, columnist and food editor for the Belleville News-Democrat. A year later the St. Louis Post-Dispatch scooped her up, neither guessing at the full range of her talents, nor the extent of her shoe collection. She went on to work at the Post-Dispatch for 25 years, during which time she covered hard news, education, features, investigative projects, profiles, sports, entertainment, fashion, interiors, business, travel and movies. She won numerous major local and national awards for her reporting on “Women Who Kill” and on a four-part series about teen-age pregnancy, ‘Children Having Children.'” Among her many jobs at the newspaper, Ellen was a columnist for three years, Arts and Entertainment Editor, Critic-at-large and Daily Features (Everyday) Editor. She invented two sections from scratch, one of which recently morphed from Get Out, begun in 1995, to GO. In January of 2009, Ellen joined the St. Louis Jewish Light as its editor, where she is responsible for overseeing editorial operations, including managing both staff members and freelancers. Under her tutelage, the Light has won 16 Rockower Awards — considered the Jewish Pulitzer’s — including two personally for Excellence in Commentary for her weekly News & Schmooze column. She also is the communications content editor for the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis. Ellen and her husband, Jeff Burkett, a middle school principal, live in Olivette and have three children. Ellen can be reached at 314-743-3669 or at [email protected].