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Rep. Gretchen Bangert, D-Florissant, and St. Louis County Executive Sam Page
CLAYTON — Voters on Tuesday sent three candidates on to November’s general election for St. Louis County Council: A North County incumbent. A South County challenger. And a new contestant from the northwest.
One clear loser: County Executive Sam Page.
Voters kept Councilwoman Shalonda Webb, a sometimes bitter Page rival. They picked Gretchen Bangert, whom Page repeatedly asked to drop out of the race. And they chose Michael Archer, a Republican who replaced frequent Page ally Ernie Trakas.
The county executive has been fighting for months to get his agenda through the seven-member council. The primary results mean the council will likely retain just one clear Page ally. It could mean a veto-proof majority for Page’s rivals.
“That’s huge from the standpoint that we’re going to hold him accountable because he knows we have that veto power,” said Archer, from south St. Louis County. “He can’t veto a bill or hold it hostage.”
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Page said he looks forward to working with new councilmembers, despite a divisive campaign season.
“Ninety percent of what happens in county government, we agree on, and the small part that we don’t agree on gets an extraordinary amount of attention,” Page said Wednesday. But county services continue to run, he said.
Only Democratic Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, of Maplewood, is left as a staunch Page ally on the council.
In North County, Webb, a Democrat from the Old Jamestown area, won with nearly 67% of the vote against Page ally Rochelle Walton Gray’s 33%. It’s the second time Webb has defeated Gray, of Black Jack, in a Democratic primary election.
Webb has repeatedly clashed with Page for the past year. They sparred over federal pandemic relief money, and Webb blocked Page’s push for a new county government building.
Gray worked alongside Page when they were both on the council until he took County Executive Steve Stenger’s place in 2019 following Stenger’s corruption scandal and federal indictment. After Gray left office in 2021, Page hired her for a job in the health department.
Page donated $2,600 to Gray’s campaign.
Still, Webb said Wednesday she’d collaborate with anyone in county government she thinks is willing to help North County — even Page.
“What St. Louis County needs is leadership that pulls people together,” Webb said Wednesday. “That’s what I’m going to bring to him to work through.”
But she also said she’ll strengthen allies on the council, “whether they be traditional or nontraditional.”
In South County’s District 6, Archer, a private-practice attorney from Oakville, won with nearly 52% of the vote compared to Trakas’ 48%.
Archer still has to mount a campaign against Democrat Kevin Schartner in the Nov. 5 election. Archer expects the race to be competitive.
“He’s a good candidate, and I look forward to running against him,” Archer said.
Archer has campaigned, in part, promising not to be a rubber stamp for Page.
Trakas said he looks forward to serving the rest of his term on the council. New councilmembers will be seated after the new year.
“I’ve fought the good fight, I’ve kept the faith and now it’s time to finish this particular race,” Trakas wrote in an email. “I’ll finish it the same way I started it: with a passionate commitment to the people of District 6 and St. Louis County.”
In District 2, which covers much of northwest St. Louis County, Democrat Nicole Greer, of Creve Coeur, lost to Bangert, of Florissant, in the race to fill an open seat. Bangert is likely to win the heavily Democratic district in November.
Page repeatedly offered Bangert a full-time job if she agreed to drop out, but she refused. Bangert won with 43% of the vote compared to Greer’s 42% and Lequeshiah Young’s 14%.
“Taxpayer dollars should not be used for politics, and it sounded like he was going to use government money to buy me off,” Bangert told the Post-Dispatch in June.
Page eventually endorsed both Bangert and Greer in the race.
Bangert didn’t immediately return a phone call Tuesday.
The losses mean six of the seven councilmembers could be skeptical of Page: Archer, Bangert and Webb, if they win in November, plus Republican councilmen Mark Harder and Dennis Hancock, and Democratic Councilwoman Rita Heard Days.
St. Louis County Council Chair Shalonda Webb, and other council members, tried to hold a hearing about federal funding for some nonprofits, but County Executive Sam Page and his staff didn't attend. Later, Webb tried to block Page from giving a statement at the council meeting; other members moved to allow the statement. Video provided by the county; edited by Beth O'Malley