ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — St. Louis County Executive Sam Page declared victory in a speech Tuesday night after holding a significant lead throughout most of the night over challenger Jane Dueker in the Democratic party for county executive. He will face Republican Katherine Pinner in the general election.
Page led by a wide margin throughout the night and finished with 63% of the vote to Dueker’s 36%.
Pinner, a local Republican activist, defeated State Representative Shamed Dogan with 56% of the vote to Dogan’s 44%.
The primary election for St. Louis County Executive was framed as a referendum on the incumbent, Page, who came to power in the wake of a federal corruption scandal that felled his predecessor Steve Stenger. Now, federal agents are once again poking around county government offices, and have already brought criminal corruption charges against one of Page’s closest political aides.
Page entered the primary with both the benefits and the baggage of the incumbency. After a term that included a brutal pandemic and a rise in crime, his Democratic challenger Jane Dueker has unleashed a string of criticism attacking Page’s judgment, transparency, and leadership style. Page has defended his term in office, and has bristled at Dueker’s criticism. He has refused to debate her, opting instead to run a more careful campaign.
Tuesday night Page told supporters that while in office, he’s fought for better pay for county workers, safer neighborhoods, and better maintenance of county parks. He also says there’s an important issue he wants to continue to address in the county, racial equality.
“St. Louis cannot be healthy, cannot grow, cannot be safe, until we address race, until there are enough good schools, good housing, good jobs, good healthcare, good transportation, good childcare and good retirements for everyone regardless of which part of the county you call home,” he said.
Page told his supporters it's been a long campaign and he plans to take a couple of days off of the campaign trail. But he also aimed to unite the Democratic party as a whole, often pointing to races outside of his own, even outside of the region, saying his party is going to send a Democrat to Washington. He did not address recent obstacles he faced regarding county employees, one of whom he had to fire for alleged money fraud. Another resigned after a video surfaced of the worker engaged in a sex act inside a county office.
Dueker greeted her supporters at a police union lodge. She said one of the most exciting things about campaigning has been getting to know the people who live in the county.
"I'm proud of our campaign, worked hard, it’s been four grueling months but I loved it. I loved talking to voters. Spent time probably at 20 polling places today talking to voters and have loved the support,” she said.