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ST. LOUIS — Donna Baringer, the former alderwoman running to unseat St. Louis’ longtime comptroller, picked up an endorsement from her fellow challenger on Wednesday.

Celeste Metcalf, who finished third in the March 4 primary behind Baringer and Comptroller Darlene Green, said she is backing Baringer in the general election on April 8.

“Donna’s commitment to transparency aligns with my values and goals for our city’s financial future,” Metcalf said in a news release.

The endorsement is another boost for Baringer, who is giving Green, in office since 1995, her first competitive election in decades.

Baringer took first place in the primary, with support from 48% of voters to Green’s 46% and Metcalf’s 24%.

And if Metcalf’s supporters break Baringer’s way in April, they could play an important role in holding that advantage.

The comptroller is the city’s chief financial officer. The comptroller votes, along with the mayor and aldermanic president, on the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, which sets the city budget and approves all contracts. The comptroller also signs off on contracts, and oversees employees who pay the bills and conduct internal audits.

Green has cast herself as a proven leader and pointed to the city’s financial health, good credit rating and growing financial reserves in recent years as evidence. The city’s rainy-day fund has grown from about 5% of general revenue when she took office, to more than 26% as of last summer.

Baringer has highlighted recent problems in the comptroller’s office, including an expensive struggle to install a new accounting system, payment delays to city vendors, and reports that Green is often absent from the office.

Metcalf, a longtime certified public accountant and auditor, after the primary.

She told the Post-Dispatch she didn’t approve of Green’s performance. And she said she didn’t think Baringer had the financial background for the job.

But by Wednesday, she had changed her mind, saying the problems in the comptroller’s office were too much to ignore.

“If you go with the current comptroller,” Metcalf said, “then you’re co-signing on poor performance.”

Metcalf briefly worked in the comptroller's office at one point in her career, which has also included stints in other city departments and state government. She declined Wednesday to discuss that experience in detail.

Green, in a statement to the Post-Dispatch, noted that she picked up a new endorsement of her own over the weekend, when the St. Louis City Democratic Central Committee overwhelmingly endorsed her over Baringer, even though Baringer is a committeewoman.

“I have a strong coalition of support going into the general,” Green said. “I’m not concerned about Celeste Metcalf.”