ST. LOUIS • Lewis Reed, who is running for re-election as president of the Board of Aldermen, is claiming that one of his opponents, state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, is not qualified to run against him because she is not using her “legal name” that appears on city property records.

In a letter delivered Wednesday to the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, Reed’s chief of staff, Tom Shepard, says Nasheed’s name should be removed from the March 5 primary ballot.

“Per the city charter, Jamilah Nasheed does not meet the qualifications to run for President of the Board of Aldermen because Jamilah Nasheed is not a legal name that has been assessed taxes in the City of St. Louis,” Shepard said in the letter. “Only the name of a legally assessed taxpayer can appear on the ballot. ... The city charter reads clear on this issue.”

The Reed campaign initially pointed to the tax record of a rental property belonging to Nasheed that lists “Jenice Williams” as the owner. On another property record, both names — Jenice Williams and Jamilah Nasheed — appear.

Nasheed’s campaign responded Wednesday by providing a copy of a court order from May 6, 2005, showing that a judge approved the name change of Jenice Williams to Jamilah Nasheed. Williams was her birth name.