ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — St. Louis County Councilman Ernie Trakas was defeated in the Republican primary for the county council seat representing District 6 in south St. Louis County.
Trakas, who was seeking a third term on the council, was defeated by G. Michael Archer, an attorney running for office for the first time. Archer received 6,757 votes (51.7%) to Trakas' 6,313 votes (48.3%) in the two-person race.
On his election Facebook page, Archer describes himself as a longtime south St. Louis County resident.
"I am in the private practice of law in Oakville, MO," the Facebook page said. "I represent different business interests, as well as being Guardian Ad Litem representing abused children."
Trakas has served on the council since he was first elected in 2016. In 2020, he defeated Democrat Bob Burns by about six points.
Archer will run against Kevin Schartner, a Democrat who ran unopposed on Tuesday. On his election website, Schartner said he has lived in south St. Louis County for nearly 30 years and has served on the Mehlville Board of Education for six years.
Two other districts held primary elections on Tuesday.
Incumbent Shalonda Webb, a Democrat, handily defeated Rochelle Walton Gray, a former state representative who was seeking to return to the county council. Webb claimed more than two-thirds of the vote in the two-person race Tuesday night.
Tuesday's race was the second time in the last two elections that Webb has defeated Gray in a primary. In 2020, Gray was the incumbent but was defeated by Webb in a three-person race. In that race, Webb received 43.8% of the vote to Gray's 33.9%. A third candidate, Mark Behlmann, received 22.3%.
Webb will face Republican Rhonda Linders and Libertarian Theo Brown Sr. in the general election. Webb won the general election in 2020 with more than 75% of the vote.
Council District 2 will feature an open race after Democratic Councilwoman Kelli Dunaway announced she would not seek reelection.
In a three-person race for the Democratic nomination, Gretchen Bangert narrowly defeated Nicole Greer. Bangert received 43.11% of the more than 16,000 votes, beating out Greer (42.44%) and LeQueshia Young (14.45%).
Bangert will run against Republican Sudhir Rathod in a district in which 63% of voters selected Dunaway in 2020.
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