By AP/KWMU
PRESCOTT, Ariz. – A man who lived for nearly three decades as a fugitive from St. Louis has made it to the next step in his bid to win a seat on a city council in Arizona.
Howard Mechanic was one of six candidates to advance to the November general election after votes in the Prescott, Arizona, mail-in primary were tallied Tuesday. The candidates are vying for three council seats; the general election is November 8.
Mechanic was convicted of throwing a firecracker during a 1970 anti-war protest at Washington University in St. Louis. He vanished in 1972 after being sentenced to five years in prison.
He was unmasked by reporters in 2000 when he ran for a city council seat in Scottsdale, Arizona, under the name Gary Tredway. Mechanic served nearly a year in prison.
President Clinton pardoned him on his last day in office, January 20th, 2001.