This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Dec. 11, 2012 - When St. Louis Councilman Steve Stenger cruised to re-election earlier this year, he did so without draining much of his campaign treasury.
In a filing with the Missouri Ethics Commission posted earlier this month, the Affton Democrat reported that he still had $192,856.37 after his decisive victory over his Republican opponent, Green Park Alderman Tony Pousosa.
That’s far more money in the bank than his two Democratic counterparts – Councilman Michael O’Mara, D-Florissant, and Councilwoman Kathleen Kelly Burkett, D-Overland – who won re-election in November. O’Mara has about $18,777.14 while Burkett has about $13,410.
Unlike O’Mara and Burkett – who faced largely token opposition in heavily Democratic districts – Stenger ran for re-election in a district that's relatively even from a partisan standpoint. Still, Pousosa didn't come close to the amount of money Stenger had at his disposal for his bid for a second term.
Stenger is about $102,000 in debt, which stems from his 2008 campaign against then-Councilman John Campisi, R-6th District. He loaned himself about $150,000 during that successful campaign.
Stenger is considered a potential challenger in 2014 to St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, a Democrat. He recently provided a decisive vote in passing an ordinance adding sexual orientation to the county's anti-discrimination ordinances. Dooley signed that measure into law earlier this month.
Since Dooley wasn’t running for anything this year, he wasn’t required to file a report showing his fundraising from the end of October to the beginning of December. Dooley’s most recent fundraising report from October showed that he had $44,988.20 of cash on hand.
