As the filing deadline for the August primary election approached, Dennis Hancock had a choice to make.
He could seek another term representing the 3rd District on the St. Louis County Council, or give up a likely smooth path to reelection and run for higher office.
For Hancock, R-Fenton, the decision was an easy one. He said 2026 was shaping up to be the optimum time to run for St. Louis County executive.
"I assumed there wasn't going to be an incumbent," he said, "And if Dr. [Sam] Page had stayed in office, he would have been very vulnerable."
Page announced late last year that he would not seek reelection, but Hancock said an open seat did not change his campaign strategy.
"I have to give you a reason to vote for me, as opposed to running against a particular individual," he said. "All I'm going to do is convince you not to vote for them. I'm still not convincing you to vote for me."
Hancock finds the county executive to be a more natural fit for his personality. He's spent 40 years in the telecommunications and facilities management industries, "managing people, processes, budgets, just about anything there is to manage."
"There are people that are comfortable being out in front and explaining things to the public," he said.
Hancock made his first foray into politics in 1999, when he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Fenton, a city of what was then about 4,000 people in south central St. Louis County. The first campaign he ran, he said, was terrible, but he honed his approach and got elected to the first of six terms in 2001.
Hancock was drawn to politics by "the interaction with people and the way that people look to elected officials as someone who can help them and can make their lives better."
And St. Louis County, he said, is nothing more than a large municipal government.
"That's why it's important that somebody who's been a mayor, and providing those basic services, should be in the county executive's office," he said.
Budget crunches past and present
Hancock was mayor in late April 2009 when Chrysler, now known as Stellantis, filed for bankruptcy. The south plant, which produced minivans, had already closed on Halloween 2008. But as part of the restructuring, the company planned to permanently close the north plant, which was making pickup trucks. The last vehicle rolled off the line there in early July 2009.
The closures hit Fenton hard. Between 2007 and 2010, the revenue coming into the city's general fund plummeted 16%.
Hancock takes pride in the fact that the city never chose to raise taxes. He worked with the Board of Aldermen to review the city's spending, looking at what the city had to spend money on versus what were nice programs to have.
"And I feel like we need to bring the same approach to St. Louis County government and to the budget problems of St. Louis County," he said.
The budget picture for the county is dire. The reserves used to close years of deficits are close to running out, and federal money that helped sustain the county through the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer available. The county has already reduced the hours its headquarters and satellite offices are open. Page's proposed budget for 2027 has a $65 million deficit without new revenue or the use of one-time funds, even with the elimination of 139 positions.
Despite the gloomy numbers, Hancock is resistant to raising taxes.
"St. Louis County has a spending problem," he said. "When you look at our revenues, they increase by at least the rate of inflation year over year, but our spending goes up at a faster rate. At my home, I don't have the luxury of being able to spend more money than what comes in. I have to live within my means, and we as a government should live within our means."
He would look at whether the county should operate three full-service health clinics and animal adoptions at its shelter. That program had been contracted out to the Animal Protective Association for two years.
Healing divides
Hancock acknowledges that some of the responsibility for the county's budget situation lies with the council, which did not really assert its role in the process until last year. That's when a vast majority of members approved a spending plan that cut about $50 million from the amount Page had proposed.
It was the latest in a series of salvos between the council and the county executive, infighting that began over public health orders in 2020 and didn't let up. Some of it involved legitimate policy differences, Hancock said, but he added that when he first joined the council, there were members who were just prepared to fight.
"If the county executive said it was blue, no, it's red," he said. "What I've tried to bring to the council is a perspective that you know we all have to have respect for each other's positions, even if we don't respect each other as individuals."
Both Hancock and his Democratic opponent, county Assessor Jake Zimmerman, are running campaigns that focus on not being Page. But Hancock said his experience as mayor means he knows the proper role of the executive versus the legislative branch.
"For me to try to tell them how to do their job, tell them what they have to do in order to make me look good, that's never going to work," he said.
Dodging the wave
Hancock's fundraising has picked up as the general election approaches, but Zimmerman is still dominating the financial battle. That means Hancock is relying heavily on retail politics – a strategy he said he enjoys.
"It gets the adrenaline going," he said. "The rush when you shake hands with people and they smile, and shake your hand and say, 'Yeah, we're behind you,' that gives you what you need to go onto the next person."
Most paradegoers lining Ashby Road for the St. Ann Day parade in September reacted to Hancock's entreaties with little more than a handshake and a hello. But his presence persuaded at least one resident to vote for him over Zimmerman.
"Everything's in an uproar," said Arlene Webster, a longtime resident of St. Ann. "He stopped to make sure that he was letting himself be seen at our parade today, and I appreciate that."
Webster said her family almost always voted Democratic, but Hancock's experience persuaded her to give the other party a chance.
Disaffected Democrats are a key voting bloc for Hancock as he tries to chart a course to victory in a year that may be tough for Republicans up and down the ballot. Many have reached out to him and hosted fundraisers. Others, like Bob Burns, a former state representative and congressional staffer, have been louder with their support.
"Dennis Hancock is a man of his word," Burns said, adding that he liked the way six of the seven council members, including Hancock, were working toward the common good.
Hancock said he believes there are enough Bob Burnses out there to tilt the election his way in what could be a strong year for Democrats generally.
He'll find out if the strategy works on Nov. 3.
Editor's note: A profile of Zimmerman is scheduled to run Thursday.
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