CLAYTON — St. Louis County Executive Sam Page was charged on Wednesday with stealing thousands of dollars when he used county funds to campaign against a ballot proposition in April.
Page spent more than $25,000 to create flyers and mail them to more than 50,000 registered voters, investigators wrote in court documents. He ignored a county attorney’s advice in creating the flyers and avoided the county’s bidding process, which ended up costing taxpayers even more money, the documents say.
The flyers advocated for the defeat of Proposition B, which would have given the County Council the power to fire department heads, investigators wrote.
Page was charged Wednesday with two counts of election offenses, which are misdemeanors, plus two felony counts of stealing, one of $25,000 or more and one of $750 or more.
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Page’s attorney, former U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen, refuted the allegations. “We adamantly deny Dr. Page engaged in any wrongdoing and look forward to his day in court,†he said in a statement late Wednesday.
Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, whose office is prosecuting the case, said Page, a Democrat, used county funds to help sway the election results.
“Missouri law is clear,†Bailey said in a post on X. “Public money must never be used for political campaigning. Any intentional misuse of taxpayer dollars in an attempt to rig the outcome of an election is illegal.â€
If convicted of the most serious charge, stealing $25,000 in county postage, Page faces between three and 10 years in prison, according to state sentencing guidelines. He could also face removal from office. The county’s charter says: “A vacancy in the office of county executive shall occur if the county executive resigns from office, dies, is recalled, or is convicted of a felony.â€
Neither Page nor spokesman Doug Moore responded to requests for comment.
At Tuesday night’s County Council meeting, Page briefly defended himself. “I can’t imagine that anyone has done anything wrong,†he said.
‘It’s embarrassing’
On Wednesday, Republican Councilmen Mike Archer, of south St. Louis County, Dennis Hancock, of Fenton, and Mark Harder, of Ballwin, said Page should resign, arguing the indictment will distract him from his full-time job as county executive.
Democratic Councilwoman Gretchen Bangert, of Florissant, said she’s disappointed Page “could be so dishonest.â€
“It is embarrassing for St. Louis County and our entire region,†Bangert wrote in a text message. “It is time to have honest, dedicated leadership in St. Louis County.â€
Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, a Democrat from Maplewood and Page’s lone ally on the council, said news of the indictment was a blow to the community and county workers, regardless of the outcome. But she also pointed to politics:
“We have an attorney general who has shown on many occasions that he will jump at any opportunity to grab a headline,†Clancy said.
Page’s case stems from a mailer about Proposition B that the county spent nearly $36,000 to distribute. The proposition would have given the council the power to fire department heads appointed by Page.
Councilmembers said it was needed to hold county department directors accountable.
Shortly before the April 8 election, Tom Sullivan, a University City resident and frequent county critic, filed complaints with the Missouri Secretary of State and the Missouri Ethics Commission. Sullivan accused Page of using the mailer to sway voter opinion.

The front and back of a flyer about Proposition B that was mailed to St. Louis County residents includes the language, “Paid for by Saint Louis County, County Executive, Sam Pageâ€
The Secretary of State’s office referred the matter to the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s office, which recused itself to avoid any appearance of conflict. County Presiding Judge Bruce Hilton appointed Bailey as a special prosecutor early in June.
Page has said the mailer was only informational, and not meant to influence voters.
The mailer, however, only listed negative points about the proposition. It said a “yes†vote would mean department directors — including the police chief — could be fired during emergencies or for political reasons, and that they would answer to eight bosses, meaning Page plus the seven county councilmembers. And it lauded a “no†vote as maintaining “stable leadership†in the county, preserving “voter control,†and ensuring qualified professionals run departments without political influence.
It also stated that the St. Louis County Board of Police Commissioners, the St. Louis County NAACP, the St. Louis Labor Council AFL-CIO and Greater St. Louis Inc. opposed the ballot measure. And it included a quote from a county circuit court judge’s order calling the proposition’s ballot language “misleading, insufficient, inaccurate, argumentative, prejudicial and unfair.â€
A higher court later overturned that ruling.
On Wednesday, a search warrant application was filed with the court, saying Missouri Highway Patrol troopers seized evidence from Page’s office on Monday.
Master Sgt. Eric Bartel outlined the investigation in the application.
Seizing Page’s iPhone
Page initiated a campaign in February opposing Proposition B, Bartel wrote, and created a flyer, mailer and webpage.
The language on the flyer and mailer came from a document created by Jesse Lawder, an employee in Page’s office. Then it was sent to Jennifer Baumann, an attorney for the County Counselor’s Office, for review.
Baumann removed some of the wording, Bartel said. Specifically, she removed two bullet points regarding what a “yes on B vote†would mean.
A day later, on Feb. 25, the flyer was sent to people outside the office without Baumann’s recommended edits — it included three bullet points.
A few weeks later, on March 11, a postcard also was acreated by Page’s office, Bartel wrote.
Page’s office then took a list of 100,000 registered votes and narrowed it down to 55,000, the warrant said, “so the cost of the postcard printing could be kept under $5,000 to avoid having to obtain a bid for services.â€
The postcards were then mailed, Bartel wrote, with a rate of $0.56 per card, instead of the printer’s discounted rate of $0.406, to again avoid the bidding process, Bartel wrote.
“This resulted in an overage cost to St. Louis County close to $8,000,†Bartel wrote.
Bartel interviewed Moore, Page’s spokesman, who said that he was in direct contact with Page and got his approval for each edit to the flyer and postcard.
These interactions, Moore told police, were in person or through text messages between Moore’s personal phone and Page’s personal iPhone.
Police subpoenaed all documents, emails, texts, invoices and other items associated with Prop B from Page’s office and received 84 screenshots of text messages between Moore and Page from Moore’s phone — but none from Page’s personal cell, Bartel wrote.
And yet, Bartel wrote in applying for the search warrant, his investigation found that Page “conducts the majority of work through his personal cellphone or in person.â€
Bartel argued that there would be critical evidence on Page’s cellphone that would need to be recovered by police.
During the search Monday, the highway patrol seized Page’s iPhone.
Page is scheduled for an arraignment in the case on Aug. 29.
St. Louis County executive Sam Page spoke out against Proposition B, saying it was a "power grab" during his State of the County address on March 11, 2025. Video by Allie Schallert, aschallert@post-dispatch.com