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Stenger narrowly defeats Stream

Saint Louis, Mo. — Democrat Steve Stenger won a narrow victory over his Republican challenger, Rep. Rick Stream, in his bid for St. Louis County Executive in a race that, months ago, was not predicted to be so close.

In a late-night result, the Stenger camp waited with cautious optimism for election returns to be counted. The lead between the two changed several times throughout the evening, with the full 100 percent of precincts needed to report before a winner could be reasonably declared. Finally, Stenger claimed a victory by a margin of less than one percent.

“In recent years, as amplified by recent events, our citizens have become increasingly concerned about direction of country and issues we face,” Stenger said. “Our citizens expect better and our citizens deserve better. The call for change was heard today.”

Stenger
Stenge

Stenger ran into trouble almost immediately following his primary win over incumbent Charlie Dooley. Days after the win, Michael Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, and Stenger’s close ally, St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch, soon came under intense scrutiny.

Stream rode a wave of Republican victories across the state to a competitive final margin of about 0.61 percent in an area of the state where Democrats have typically dominated. Stream was also the beneficiary of concentrated effort from some local elected black Democrats to back the Republican against Stenger, whose relationship with MCulloch was unwelcome.

Stenger’s victory will likely be challenged by a recount, but his victory of nearly 2,000 votes will likely not change enough to unseat him.