ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — On the last day of filing in St. Louis County Tuesday, County Executive Sam Page got to pluck one thorn out of his political side only to have it replaced by another.
Jane Dueker, lobbyist and attorney for the Fraternal Order of Police, announced in a tweet she will run against St. Louis County Executive Sam Page in the Democratic primary just moments after St. Louis County Councilman Tim Fitch announced he will not be seeking re-election in the Third District.
“Today I filed as a candidate for St. Louis County Executive on the August 2 ballot for the Democratic primary,” Dueker wrote. “We need a full-time County Executive working for the people of St. Louis County and while Sam Page lines his own pockets with an illegal second job making hundreds of thousands of dollars, St. Louis County continues to head in the wrong direction. Sam Page led the charge to divert Prop P funds away from our police department and officers. It’s time that we fulfill the promise of two men in a car, proper working conditions in precincts and stem the tide of sky rocketing crime in St. Louis County.”
She also called on Page to hold a debate as soon as possible.
Page's campaign spokesman Richard Callow sent a statement, which read: "It's a surprise, but a good one. I didn't have 'Steve Stenger's campaign manager runs for County Executive' on my BINGO card this year."
Dueker said she volunteered as an advisor to Stenger, who resigned and was convicted of on federal corruption charges in 2019.
"It's not a surprise the first statement that comes out of Sam Page's campaign is a lie," Dueker said. "That's one of the reasons I am running."
Dueker served as an assistant attorney general during the Gov. Jay Nixon administration. She also served as the first female legal council for the governor. She helped administer the state’s $24 billion budget, which covers 65,000 state employees across 20 different agencies.
“Frankly, I have more executive experience than Sam Page,” she said. “I am more qualified.”
Dueker is a registered lobbyist, and under state law, she cannot have a campaign committee.
“I just plan on taking my message to the voters of St. Louis County,” she said. “Unlike Sam Page, if I win, I will actually quit my job and devote my full time to the job of county executive.”
Dueker is referring to Page’s job as an anesthesiologist for Western Anesthesiology Associates, Inc. at Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur. Fitch and other county council members have accused him of violating the county charter by having a secondary job.
Fitch led an effort to put the matter on the April 5 ballot asking voters if a county executive should be removed from office should they have secondary employment.
Another proposition on the ballot asks voters whether the county executive should pay for their assistants out of their own budgets – both propositions political analyst Anita Manion said could be referendums on the Page administration.
On the Republican side, Shamed Dogan has announced he will be running against Page in the general election.
Manion called Dogan a “formidable candidate,” who could threaten a more than 30-year tradition of voting only for Democrats to fill the county executive seat in St. Louis County.
She said Page has ruled through “unprecedented times,” during a pandemic and some of his decisions about shutting down youth sports and issuing mask mandates angered many in the county.
“Sam Page definitely has a target on his back right now,” she said.