St. Louis County Executive Sam Page made his case for a full four-year term on the latest episode of Politically Speaking.

The Democratic official spoke about his challenging tenure as county executive. Since taking the post in 2019, Page has had to deal with contentious disputes over his COVID-19 pandemic response and an increasingly hostile county council.

Page is squaring off against Jane Dueker in the Aug. 2 Democratic primary. You can listen to her Politically Speaking episode here. The winner of the Page-Dueker contest will likely face state Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, in the November general election.

Here’s what Page discussed during the program:

• How high-profile scandals involving his appointees affect perceptions of his administration. He also responded to criticism about working as an anesthesiologist while serving as county executive. 
• His philosophy toward the COVID-19 response and how his administration would respond if there’s another surge. 
• How he would approach crime prevention if he’s given another four years in office.
• Where the county should spend the remaining federal coronavirus relief funds.
• Whether members of the county council should be paid more.

Page is a veteran on the region’s political scene. After serving on the Creve Coeur City Council, he won a hotly contested Democratic primary in 2002 for a Missouri House seat representing central St. Louis County.

Despite impressive fundraising, he lost a close statewide contest in 2008 to Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican. Two years later, then-St. Louis County Councilwoman Barbara Fraser, D-University City, easily defeated Page in a Democratic primary for a state Senate seat.

After St. Louis Councilwoman Kathleen Kelly Burkett, D-Overland, died of cancer in 2014, Page won the seat representing central and north St. Louis County. He was selected by the council to replace Steve Stenger as county executive in 2019, then won a special election to fill out the rest of Stenger’s term in 2020.

If he wins this year, Page would serve as county executive through 2026.

Follow Rachel Lippmann on Twitter: @rlippmann

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Sam Page on Twitter: @DrSamPage