LEXIE MILLER
St. Louis County Sam Page, shown in a file photo, won convincingly.
Incumbent St. Louis County Executive Sam Page fought off a pair of serious challengers to win the Democratic primary, more or less guaranteeing he’ll be elected in November to the job he took over in the vacuum of a scandal.
Page stepped into the role of county executive in May 2019 following the resignation of Steve Stenger, who was less than a week away from pleading guilty to federal bribery charges. In his first primary to keep the seat, he faced businessman Mark Mantovani, who barely lost to Stenger in 2018, and St. Louis County Assessor Jake Zimmerman.
In the bruising final weeks of the campaign, Page was able to survive a potential scandal of his own when his one-time pick for county police chief revealed plans to sue over race discrimination, accusing the county executive in his complaint of reneging on a promise to push him through the county Board of Police Commissioners. Page's team fought back, alleging he and the county were the targets of an extortion scheme.
An anesthesiologist by trade, Page has also taken the lead on the county’s response to the coronavirus, an at-times controversial but nonetheless high-profile role that kept him in the spotlight as his challengers fought for face time with voters.
Page is not expected to face any serious competition in the general election, so the primary victory basically seals his election to serve what would have been the rest of Stenger's term as county executive.
Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly reported the details of the county executive's term. We regret the error.
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