ST. LOUIS COUNTY 鈥 A private practice attorney and a corporate engineer are running to represent south St. 亚洲无码 County on Nov. 5.
They admit they鈥檙e the same in many regards.
Both G. Michael 鈥淢ike鈥 Archer, a Republican, and Kevin Schartner, a Democrat, support police, want to fill vacant storefronts and aim to get roads fixed.
It鈥檚 the most competitive County Council race this year 鈥 Democrats are likely to win the two other seats up for grabs. But both Archer and Schartner think they can win in South County, a purple district whose residents tend to vote blue in the denser, urban north and red in the more spacious suburbs to the south.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know who鈥檚 going to win this election,鈥 said Forrest Miller, who has owned and operated the Royale Orleans event space on Telegraph Road for 45 years. 鈥淔or once we have, I think, two formidable candidates.鈥
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South County tends to change hands politically, going for Republicans in some years and Democrats in others. District 6 has flipped parties every eight years since 2000, with Republican Ernie Trakas representing it for the past eight. In the state Legislature, the northernmost part of South County is solidly blue, while the outer area is reliably red.
Both Archer and Schartner do bear the markings of their party, which could matter especially in a year where a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion will draw voters to the polls.
Archer鈥檚 Catholic and says he鈥檚 conservative and anti-abortion; Schartner has labor union support and said he鈥檚 a pro-choice moderate Democrat.
Otherwise, Archer and Schartner are relying on experience and personality to distinguish themselves.
Archer, 68, leans on his time in the 1980s and 鈥90s as a prosecutor and his relationships with local businesses. Schartner, 54, plays up his school board and work experience.
In interviews with the Post-Dispatch earlier this month, they made their pitches.
Over salad, chicken wings and Dr. Pepper at a South County restaurant, Archer, casual and affable, talked about his time as a prosecutor in St. 亚洲无码 County, where he focused on child abuse cases from 1986 to 2001. He jokingly told a story about a judge chastising him once for accidentally standing on the oxygen tube of a defendant accused of child sex abuse crimes.
Since his time as a prosecutor, Archer has worked in a range of private firms practicing municipal, insurance, business and family law. In 2011, he started his own practice and sometimes serves as a court-appointed guardian for abused and neglected children.
He鈥檚 also the lawyer for several South County business owners, and he attended a meeting with a handful of them last year. They were frustrated over Trakas.
鈥淚 said, 鈥榃e will probably just need a new councilman,鈥欌 Archer said. 鈥淓verything got real quiet. I looked up, and they鈥檙e all looking at me. They said, 鈥榃hat about you?鈥欌
He decided to run and began collecting donations from South County businesses. He defeated Trakas in the August primary.
The business contributions continued. A company that buys and repurposes industrial sites donated $10,000. An electric company donated $500, and a construction company gave $1,000. Miller, the owner of Royale Orleans, hosted a fundraiser at his space, a contribution worth $750.
But Miller also supported Archer鈥檚 opponent, Schartner, with a fundraising event worth $250, Miller said.
Schartner sipped a mocha latte 鈥 鈥淐hocolate is my kryptonite,鈥 he said 鈥 at a coffee shop not far from his office at the Ameren headquarters in St. 亚洲无码 earlier this month. He鈥檚 methodical and data-minded: He realized walking between houses to talk to voters was taking a long time, so he bought an electric kick scooter, increasing his efficiency two-fold.
Schartner moved to South County in 1995, when he started working for Anheuser-Busch as a project engineer and manager. He went to work for Ameren in 2009 and has filled various roles in his time there 鈥 engineer, project manager and data analytics, among them.
His first foray into politics came in 2015 as a concerned Mehlville School District parent. The district was drastically cutting staff and programming because of a lack of tax revenue, and he worried about how the cuts were affecting his two school-age kids. He helped a committee convince voters to pass a property tax increase, the first in 15 years. In 2016, Schartner was elected to the school board, where he served until 2022.
Schartner and Archer have both been knocking doors district-wide to mobilize their own party but also target potential swing voters. Archer said he鈥檚 going door to door in the district鈥檚 northern, more Democratic area. And Schartner said he鈥檚 looking for people who might not stick to party lines.
But party does matter. South County鈥檚 Democratic vote has historically been driven by the middle class and union members, said Jake Hummel, president of Missouri鈥檚 chapter of AFL-CIO.
In the state Senate district that includes most of South County, there are more than 20,000 union households, Hummel said. Hummel said his team has 鈥渒nocked on every union household door鈥 across the state this election cycle, including in South County, where the union has supported Schartner.
鈥淚 think we鈥檒l be surprised at how blue the county has become,鈥 Hummel said.
Archer has labor and Democratic support too. He鈥檚 got the backing of Bob Burns, a Democratic former state legislator and longtime union member. Former Democratic legislator Joe Treadway also supports him.
For Miller, the event space owner, the question of who to support comes down to how the candidates would interact with County Executive Sam Page. He鈥檚 deeply unpopular with Republicans and even among some Democrats on the council. No matter the outcome in South County, Page won鈥檛 have a majority who support him on the seven-member council. Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, a Democrat from Maplewood, is the only guaranteed Page supporter left.
But Miller worries Schartner will be an ally to Page.
Schartner said he鈥檇 treat Page objectively.
鈥淚 have worked with people I didn鈥檛 necessarily get along with,鈥 Schartner said. 鈥淏ut my focus is not going to be on my personal feelings towards somebody. It鈥檚 going to be: What is the job? Who are my customers, and how do I make sure that things improve?鈥
Archer said he鈥檚 not a big fan of Page, but he would work with the county executive if it was good for South County.
鈥淭here are a lot of lawyers I can鈥檛 stand,鈥 Archer said. 鈥淏ut when it comes down to working with them, I can work with them for a mutual, mutually beneficial arrangement. You don鈥檛 have to like the people you work with.鈥