St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann is ditching retirement and instead will run for another term next year.
The longtime GOP official will have stiff primary competition, including from the runner-up for the Republican nomination for governor.
Ehlmann announced on Tuesday that he would run for reelection, reversing a decision he made over two years ago not to seek another term.
He said in an interview that “a new political landscape” solidified his decision to run again, specifically President Donald Trump returning to the White House and Gov. Mike Kehoe taking the helm as governor. Ehlmann cited a number of planned major projects, including the creation of a large new park and the purchase of St. Charles’ city hall building for the county as part of his decision to run.
“Not to mention the fact that I still have a really good county council to work with,” Ehlmann said. “And I got a great group of mayors that's been able to move the county forward. I'd like to continue to work with them as well.”
In particular, Ehlmann said that he wants to work with the region’s other leaders to enhance public safety and to spark more population growth.
“We've got to get the region going,” Ehlmann said. “Because if we don't, sooner or later, everybody who wants to move to St. Charles County will do it. And we’ll be no-growth like everybody else. So I think it's really, really important.”
Three Republicans had previously announced their bids for county executive: former state Sen. Bill Eigel, county council member Mike Elam and former Lake Saint Louis Mayor Jason Law. Ehlmann declined to say whether he was running because he didn’t think any of the current candidates would do a satisfactory job as county executive.
“It's still four months before filing closes, right?” Ehlmann said. “A lot can happen between now and then.”
Soon after Ehlmann’s announcement, Elam said in a statement he was ending his county executive campaign.
“It has always been my goal to serve where I can make the greatest impact. I look forward to continuing to work with Steve, our mayors, and other regional leaders to ensure St. Charles County remains a shining example of what smart, effective, and community-driven local government can be,” Elam said. “St. Charles County has been setting the bar for Missouri — and I’m committed to making sure we keep raising it.”
Eigel released a statement on Tuesday saying the county “needs bold, conservative leadership to prevent the economic stagnation that has become standard with Steve Ehlmann in recent years.”
“Steve promised he would retire and let a new generation of energetic, conservative leadership guide our county after he has held that office for more than 20 years,” Eigel said. “I intend to hold Steve to his commitment on retirement.”
Law said in a statement that “my opponents have run in more than 30 elections so it’s no surprise they want to keep campaigning instead of filling out a job application.”
“I’ll keep working to cut taxes, protect our streets, and deliver actual strong conservative leadership that creates real opportunities for our communities,”
Unlike the other candidates, who have raised significant amounts of money in their county executive bids, Ehlmann has a basically empty campaign bank account. He said he’s been sending political donations back over the past three years.
“At least nobody can accuse me of having to want to do this all along,” Ehlmann quipped.
But he said he plans to get to work to campaign for another term.
“I think that the support is there, and hopefully I'll be able to raise enough money to be competitive,” he said.
