ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Jamie Corley is a 35-year-old artist from University City who believes people should have a right to an abortion. Stacy Washington is a conservative radio show host from Chesterfield who believes former President Donald Trump excelled as commander-in-chief.
They’re both Republicans who plan to vote Tuesday for the same person for ºüÀêÊÓƵ County executive: a former Democrat. By nominating Mark Mantovani, the party is banking on conservative and moderate voters uniting to turn around more than three decades of GOP failure here.
“Voters who are normally Democrats are looking around saying, ‘These are the not the values I support as a Democrat,’†Washington said. “The Republican party has a huge opportunity to expand.â€
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ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Republicans picked Mantovani two months ago after the primary winner, Katherine Pinner, bowed out. That marks this Tuesday’s contest as an anomaly for county GOP: party leaders have picked their champion. Mantovani, who describes himself as a fiscal conservative and social moderate, is a test for a party that has generally rewarded candidates who appeal to deep conservatives.
And while many expect incumbent to win easily in a county leaning ever more blue, some whisper that Mantovani has a chance this year, with predictions of a national “red wave†boosting local GOP turnout, too.
“Nominating Mantovani renewed my hope in the Republican Party,†said Corley, who owns a small business and said she’s a Republican because she supports limited government, strong national defense and fiscal responsibility. “That to me was a very smart, strategic decision.â€
Still, it’s an uphill battle. Voter turnout patterns indicate Democrats are gaining numbers. And Republicans have struggled for years to successfully organize candidates, volunteers and voters — the party role has been minimal in recruiting for at least three of the last five regular county executive primary elections.
This August’s primary caught the party flatfooted. Pinner, unknown to county Republican leaders, won handily without their help. The party only got to pick Mantovani because Pinner dropped out just two months before the election.
Not having a handle on the primary was a critical failure by the GOP, said Ernie Trakas, a Republican county councilman who represents most of South County.
“That kind of organization is charged with the responsibility of searching for, recruiting, vetting and putting forth candidates,†Trakas said. “What else is their reason for being?â€
Failure to recruit
H.C. Milford was the last Republican county executive, succeeding Gene McNary who quit in 1989 to take a job in President George H.W. Bush’s administration. Milford was defeated by George R. “Buzz†Westfall in 1990, and Republicans came up short in every election since, even under the best circumstances.
In 2002, for instance, Westfall was facing criticism over bribery and embezzlement scandals, but the GOP picked a political newcomer, former Army commander Craig Borchelt. He lost to Westfall by 19 points.
In 2006, Republican candidate Joe Passanise ran without party support. He lost by 36 points to Democrat Charlie Dooley, who had replaced Westfall in 2003 after his death due to complications from a staph infection.
By 2010, Dooley’s popularity had faded over trash pickup, talk of a city-county merger and controversy surrounding how county contracts were awarded. Republicans won big nationwide that year, the middle of former President Barack Obama’s term, picking up seven U.S. Senate seats and 63 in the House.
But Dooley still beat Republican Bill Corrigan Jr., a corporate attorney, by four points.
Republicans got closest in 2014. Democrat Steve Stenger beat Dooley in the primary, and faced then state Rep. Rick Stream in the general election. Stream had a strong résumé: a former Navy officer, Department of Defense manager and Kirkwood School Board president. But he wasn’t the party pick. County Republicans hadn’t endorsed him in the primary.
He lost by less than a point.
Stream is now the county’s Republican elections director and doesn’t want to run for office again.
County Republican Central Committee Chair Rene Artman agrees the party’s role has been spotty. And it’s a hard sell to convince someone to spend their time and money on a losing battle.
It’s also getting harder. Stream pulled recent data on turnout in presidential elections. In 2004, 51,000 more people voted for Democrat John Kerry than Republican George W. Bush. But in 2020, that number soared: 129,000 more voted for President Joe Biden than Donald Trump, even as turnout in those two elections stayed roughly the same.
The uphill battle makes the committee’s role to recruit candidates and support them even more important.
But there’s no clear recruitment strategy.
The committee basically just asks people to run, Artman said. They had someone in mind for the ºüÀêÊÓƵ County executive’s race earlier this year, but it didn’t work out, Artman said. And if no one agrees to run, they try to support whoever files on their own.
They tried just that in August, but Pinner wanted nothing to do with the party.
A conservative network
Few pundits or party officials took Pinner seriously. Republicans were on autopilot, expecting a win for Shamed Dogan, a state representative who has been involved in politics his entire career. Even Dogan’s campaign decided to save its money for the bigger fight in the Nov. 8 election against Page. Pinner’s win with 33,000 votes sent a shockwave through the GOP. Conservative radio talk shows, Republican groups and political reporters scrambled to shine a light on her candidacy.
Political commentators gave plenty of theories. A white-sounding woman’s name seemed friendlier than Dogan’s. Conservative Republicans voted against Dogan, whose policies leaned moderate. Dogan didn’t campaign hard enough because campaign advisers expected an easy win against Pinner.
“She didn’t raise any money. She didn’t campaign other than on her website,†said David Kimball, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-ºüÀêÊÓƵ. “I don’t think primary voters knew anything about her. So I tend to guess that some Republican voters knew a little bit about Shamed Dogan and there was something they didn’t like about him, or they just went by the names that appeared on the ballot.â€
Washington, the radio show host, sees it differently.
“I think she won because we are in a period of politics where a lot of people are coming out and running for office and they don’t have a history, and they’re running on their background,†Washington said. “President Trump never lost touch with his base when he was in office, and Katherine Pinner could have been that. That’s what people were looking for when people voted for her.â€
Washington heard Pinner, an author and entrepreneur, speak to about 100 attendees at a conservative women’s event at Promise Christian Academy in Town and Country before the primary. Pinner talked about her vision for “bringing sanity back to county government,†and how she’d approach government with her business-minded perspectives, Washington said.
Washington was impressed. She recommended Pinner by word of mouth to her network and, the day after the primary, on the Marc Cox Morning Show on KFTK (97.1 FM), a conservative radio show whose signal reaches all of ºüÀêÊÓƵ County.
Pinner won big. She had an average of 51% of the vote in precincts where more than 200 voters turned out. In one precinct near the district Dogan represents between Wildwood and Ballwin, she won nearly 83%. Pinner beat Dogan in predominantly Black precincts in North County and in mostly white precincts in South County.
But Pinner’s candidacy didn’t last. After she won, she refused to describe her campaign strategy at a meeting of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Young Republicans, and hung up on a radio host who asked her about a lawsuit she filed against her former employer over COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
“I don’t think she understood what it would be like to run,†Artman said. “Until you’re in politics and you get a taste of it, you don’t know what it’s like.â€
When Pinner dropped out, the Republican central committee had a process set by election law to replace her. They started collecting résumés. Mantovani’s GOP friends wanted him to submit his. He hesitated. He had already lost — twice, as a Democrat. But Artman had heard his name circulating in Republican circles.
She asked a mutual friend to reach out to Mantovani to see if he would call her. Artman was sitting at home one evening a week after Pinner dropped out when the phone rang. It was Mantovani.
“We talked to for a long time. I asked him questions. He asked me questions. At the end of it he said, ‘I liked what you said. I can agree with what you said. I think I really want to do this,’†Artman said. “We have a candidate who excites people right now in Mark Mantovani.â€
Freedom and barbecue
ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Republicans recently met over barbecue and potato salad at the Young Republicans’ FreedomFest luncheon in Fenton.
U.S. Senate candidate Eric Schmitt spoke to the crowd about suing President Joe Biden’s administration. U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner and Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft hobnobbed with local party leaders and candidates as the press, barred from the event, peered in through front windows.
Dr. George Hruza was among the candidates mingling after a plate of pulled pork. He’s running against Democratic state House member Tracy McCreery for the 24th state Senate district, which includes Maryland Heights to the north and Town and Country to the south.
Hruza said he decided to run because ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, “the economic engine of Missouri,†doesn’t seem to be “firing on all cylinders.†The economy, public safety and education are troubled, said Hruza, a father of four from Huntleigh.
One prominent candidate, however, was conspicuously absent: Mantovani, who said he had to attend his daughter’s birthday party at his home. He later said that he had entered the race so late, campaigning just sometimes conflicted with his plans.
Frank Catanzaro, the 31-year-old chair of the Young Republicans, has a vision of an inclusive party focused on free-market principles, public safety and a strong economy to draw younger people to the GOP.
“For the Republican Party to grow in ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, we need to make sure that people can feel included,†Catanzaro said. “We’re a big tent party. We want to make sure folks from all across the Republican spectrum feel like they can come out and run for office.â€
Editor’s note: This article has been edited to correct Hruza's opponent, Tracy McCreery, in the Senate District 24 race.
The Post-Dispatch and the League of Women Voters of Metro ºüÀêÊÓƵ present this guide to the candidates and races on the Nov. 8 ballot.