St. Louis County executive hopeful Jane Dueker, the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast, talked about why she’s challenging incumbent Sam Page on Aug. 2.
Dueker is an attorney who previously served as chief of staff during part of Gov. Bob Holden’s administration. Until recently, Dueker was a lobbyist — most notably representing state and local police unions. She ended her registration as a lobbyist to be able to raise money for her campaign committee.
The winner of the Dueker-Page contest will likely face state Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, in November.
Here’s what Dueker discussed on the show:
- Why she decided to make the leap from being a behind-the-scenes player to political candidate.
- Criticism about how she served as an unpaid adviser to former St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger, who resigned in 2019 before pleading guilty to corruption charges.
- How crime prevention would be a major priority if she were to become county executive.
- Possible cooperation between St. Louis County and St. Louis, including whether the city should join the county as a municipality. Efforts to combine St. Louis and St. Louis County have faltered for decades, most recently with the failed Better Together plan in 2019.
Dueker worked in the Missouri attorney general’s office before becoming chief of staff for Holden. The St. Louis native eventually returned to the private sector. She has been involved in high-profile legal cases, including lawsuits against the city’s minimum wage law and a recent legal case around the St. Louis County Council’s district boundaries.
Page is slated to record an episode of Politically Speaking later this week.
Follow Rachel Lippmann on Twitter: @rlippmann
Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum
Follow Jane Dueker on Twitter: @janedueker
