Politics & Government

Incumbents Reign Supreme: St. Peters Mayor, Aldermen Retain Seats

St. Peters Mayor Len Pagano and all four Aldermen won re-election on Tuesday.

For the the St. Peters Board of Aldermen will remain unchanged after the Municipal Election. 

Voters in hit the polls on Tuesday for the . All of the incumbents, including St. Peters Mayor Len Pagano, retained their seats—John "Rocky" Reitmeyer (Ward 1), Jerry Hollingsworth (Ward 2), Tommy Roberts (Ward 3) and Patrick Barclay (Ward 4) earned another four years on the Board. 

Roberts won the tightest race of the day in Ward 3. In a three-way battle for one seat, the current Board President pulled off a narrow victory over Terri Violet.

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"It feels great to know that residents of Ward 3 appreciate the work I've done for the past four years," Roberts said. 

It was the second year in a row Violet has placed second in the Ward by less than 100 votes.

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Roberts picked up 617 votes, 41.77 percent. Violet had 549 votes, 37.17 percent. Burt Biermann picked up 306 votes, 20.72 percent, to take third. 

At his victory party, Roberts said this campaign was significantly more challenging than his 2008 run.

"It was tougher than my last one, because I had two opponents," he said. "Both of my opponents were nasty and cruel and were using some campaign tactics that hurt me personally. I really thought it was disgraceful. I guess it just goes to show that dirty campaigns don't always work."

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Current St. Peters Mayor Pagano gets to keep that title for another four years. First elected in 2007, Pagano went unchallenged in Tuesday's Municipal Election. With no opposition, Pagano racked up an easy win by garnering 3,783 (97.95 percent) votes.  

"It's seems hard to believe," Pagano said about the vote total. "The people had confidence in me. It really is compliment."

Pagano was first elected to the Board of Aldermen in 1983. After nearly 30 years worth of elections, Pagano said that today was probably the most stress-free one because he was running unopposed 

"I have to say, that's true," he said. 

Not having an opponent, and winning big without a write-in challenger, appears to be a strong statement from the city of St. Peters. The residents have backed Pagano for another four years. 

"Without making it sounding like I'm bragging, I really take it as a compliment from the people that they feel like I'm doing the right thing and putting us in the right direction," he said. 

Another long-time Board member retained his seat with a win on Tuesday. Ward 1 representative John "Rocky" Reitmeyer will add four more years to his term after already having served 12.

"I'm just excited right now," he said. "What really excited me today, was seeing the community come out.  I don't know them by face, but they sure knew me and they said, 'Rocky, we're behind you.'"

Reitmeyer fought off challenger Dolores Sherman to stay on the Board. Reitmeyer picked up 729 votes (73.27 percent) while Sherman only managed to get 265 votes (26.63 percent). 

"I wish my opponent the best," Reitmeyer said. "I just hope everything goes beautifully here for the next four years."

Hollingsworth kept his Ward 2 seat with 629 votes (97.22 percent). He was running unopposed.

Barclay also didn't have a challenger and also picked up nearly all the votes. The Ward 4 rep got 891 votes (98.43 percent). 

St. Peters voters also passed Prop 4, the Water Line Insurance program. The Prop got 3,406 yes votes (80.39 percent) as opposed to only 831 (80.39 percent) no votes. 

race, Robert Carpenter (3,543 votes, 73.83 percent) beat challenger Owen Peters (1,237, 25.78 percent). 


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