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, a decision in which then-
U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill said Clay was involved for his self-interest. Clay beat Carnahan in the August 7, 2012, primary, 63% to 34%. 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%.
Committee assignments •
Committee on Financial Services • Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance (Chairman) •
United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform • United States House Natural Resources Committee
Caucus memberships •
Congressional Black Caucus •
Congressional Progressive Caucus •
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus •
Congressional Arts Caucus Capitol painting In January 2017, Clay argued with Republican lawmakers over the right to hang a controversial painting in the Capitol building. 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 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. After the
Architect of the Capitol ruled that the winning painting had violated the rules of the competition and ordered its permanent removal, Clay sued to overturn the decision, but the 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?"
Federal legislation to curb gun violence In the 116th Congress, Clay introduced HR 3435, 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 control 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==