ST. LOUIS COUNTY 鈥 Missouri Rep. Shamed Dogan, a Republican hoping to unseat County Executive Sam Page this fall, raised more campaign money than the incumbent in the last quarter of 2021.
But Page, a Democrat who won election in 2020 to finish two years left in a term vacated by Steve Stenger in 2019, still has twice as much campaign cash on hand as Dogan.
Dogan, who formally entered the race in September, raised $70,497.22 between Oct.1 and Dec. 31, according to a January quarterly report filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
Page鈥檚 campaign committee raised $62,326 in the same time period. But his campaign holds more than $125,000 in total.
And Page PAC, a political action committee supporting Page鈥檚 campaign, raised $120,500 in the last quarter. The committee holds $362,274 in cash. Dogan has a total of $66,695 in cash on hand raised since launching his campaign.
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The primary is in August, and the general election in November.
Dogan鈥檚 recent fundraising haul suggests strong support for a Republican ticket in a majority Democratic county.
In 2020, Page defeated two challengers in a competitive Democratic primary and won election in November with 58.2% of the vote in a year of record turnout. His nearest challenger, Republican Paul Berry III, had 36.5%.
But opponents of Page have said they see more opportunity to win the county鈥檚 top job because of pushback to COVID-19 public health orders issued by his administration and Page鈥檚 fractured relationship with some Black Democratic lawmakers, including Council Chair Rita Days and Shalonda Webb. Page also had a strained relationship with the late Hazel Erby, who represented District 1 on the council before Days.
Dogan, who is the only Black Republican in the state Legislature, has said he hopes to build a coalition of Republicans and voters in the heavily Democratic, majority-Black north 狐狸视频 County.
His committee received 91 donations in the last fundraising quarter, ranging from $20 to the $2,650 maximum allowed for individual contributions. Among Dogan鈥檚 top individual donors was Doug Albrecht, chairman of Bodley Group and president of the 狐狸视频 Police Foundation.
Dogan also received large contributions from business owners or executives Robert O鈥橞rien, with O鈥橞rien Capital; Richard Grote, chairman and CEO of American Medicare Counselors; and Menlo Smith, the retired founder of Sunmark Corp., the company that produced Pixy Stix, SweeTarts, Sprees and Nerds.
Among Dogan鈥檚 other top donors were Stephen Brauer Jr., chairman of Hunter Engineering and the son of Stephen F. Brauer, a longtime Republican donor who served as ambassador to Belgium under president George W. Bush.
And Dogan received contributions from PACs supporting other Republican candidates, including the Next Gen GOP PAC and A Better Missouri PAC, as well as $2,000 from AC and Mechanical Contractors PAC, a committee representing mechanical contractors.
Eureka Mayor Sean Flower and Wildwood Mayor Jim Bowlin, who have vocally opposed county mask mandates issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, also contributed to Dogan.
Page鈥檚 campaign has raked in large donations from executives with some of the 狐狸视频 area鈥檚 largest businesses, including First Bank, Centene, McBride and Son Homes, Enterprise Holdings, Schnucks, Thompson Coburn LLP, Edward Jones Investments, and Clayco.
Page鈥檚 campaign and Page PAC also have received large donations from PACs representing labor and firefighters unions and the health care construction industries.
Other Page donors include Jeff Rainford, former chief of staff to former 狐狸视频 Mayor Francis Slay, Democratic consultants Joyce Aboussie and Michael Kelly, and former congressman Lacy Clay, who donated $1,000.