ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Incumbent Sam Page, a Democrat, defeated marketing executive Mark Mantovani to win a full term as St. Louis County Executive.
The race was a rematch of the 2020 Democratic primary when Page defeated Mantovani and two other candidates. Page went on to win the general election to finish out the vacated term of Steve Stenger, who pleaded guilty to multiple federal corruption charges in 2019.
On Tuesday, Page won his first full term as county executive.
For full election results throughout the night, click here.
Shortly before the final votes were tallies, Mantovani conceded and Sam Page declared victory at their respective election night parties.
After Page's declared victory, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones issued the following statement: "Government works best when we work together. St. Louis City-County collaboration has never been stronger, and I will continue to work alongside County Executive Page to improve our region for everyone."
Page was facing Mantovani after Republican primary winner Katherine Pinner abruptly quit, and party officials coalesced around him.
Page entered the election with both the benefits and the baggage of the incumbency, having come to power in the wake of a federal corruption scandal that felled his predecessor. 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 focused his reelection campaign on a few key issues such as public safety and criminal justice reform, race and gender equity, voting rights, reproductive freedom and keeping public health a top priority.
5 On Your Side spoke to Page Wednesday as he looks ahead to his next term.
He re-emphasized key issues like public safety, public health, and reproductive freedom as top priorities.
"We would like to do better, we know we can do better," he said.
Page said it's now back to work. He highlighted conversations he has been a part of such as reproductive rights.
"We can affect some of the conversation around that by amplifying our strategy on birth control and contraception," he said.
He also hopes to continue other conversations, like those surrounding tighter gun laws.
"We can't begin to talk about crime and public safety without talking about the flow of guns into our community, and the absence of a red flag law," Page said.
On Wednesday, he shared his thoughts and answered questions on a more than centuries-old conversation in St. Louis, merging the City and County as one in the future.
"I could see it happening," he said. "I think the city and the county as a municipality with a lot of details worked out could bring a lot of benefit to the region. It's not anything we'll see in the next couple of years, there's a lot of details to work out and it would have to be on a really long timeline."
Page said he's eager to use his first four-year term to address tough issues in St. Louis County.
"When you're on a longer timeline you can have some of those harder conversations and build a coalition to tackle some of those tougher issues," he said.
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