This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, April 6, 2011 - In unofficial final election returns in St. Louis County, Democrat Jake Zimmerman won Tuesday's contest to become the county's first elected assessor in 50 years. He captured 63.67 percent (73,356 votes) to defeat GOP challenger L.K. "Chip" Wood, who garnered 36.15 percent (41,645 votes).
Voter turnout in the county was 17 percent, slightly below pre-election estimates.
Several hundred Zimmerman supporters packed the bar for the candidate's victory party at the Seven Gables Inn in Clayton, giving him a rousing round of applause when he showed up shortly before 9 p.m.
"It looks good, but it's early," said Zimmerman as he made the rounds shaking supporters' hands.
St. Louis County election officials said tallying was proceeding at a normal rate. But the Election Board's website was down most of the night, meaning that people generally could not monitor the results online. County Democratic elections director Joe Donahue blamed a new server.
The lack of online results prompted some county candidates to send emissaries to the board's headquarters in Maplewood to monitor the vote-counting in person.
Zimmerman, a state legislator from Olivette, will be the county's first elected assessor since 1960. The post subsequently had been an appointed one, until voters in the county and statewide supported Republican-led measures last year mandating that the assessor be elected.
Supporters say an elected assessor would make the office more responsive to county property owners, some of whom have contended for decades that the county's property assessments are too high compared to the rest of the state.
However, county Republicans appear to have failed to capitalize on that effort, from a political standpoint, with the defeat of Wood.
St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley was among those at Zimmerman's party. He called Zimmerman's election "a big win for St. Louis County, and he is going to do a great job."
State Democratic Party vice chairman Bob Levine, committeeman for Lafayette Township, said that Zimmerman "gives us another solid official in the state's major metropolitan area."
In several key mayoral races in St. Louis County, final results showed:
* In Bellefontaine Neighbors, Robert J. Doerr won with 40.3 percent of the vote in a five-way contest;
* In Chesterfield, Bruce Geiger was the victor with 51.63 percent in the four-person race;
* In Florissant, Tom Schneider was the winner, with 37.42 percent in the six-person battle.
Click here to view St. Louis County's entire election results.
In St. Charles' contested mayoral race, incumbent Patti York lost to challenger Sally Faith. Faith won 52.2 percent (5,356 votes) to York's 47.49 percent (4,872 votes).
In O'Fallon, Mo., voters overwhelming supported Proposition S to ban smoking in public places. The vote was 7,217 (or 72.58 percent) in favor of the ban and 2,726 (or 27.42 percent) opposed.
