Corrigan Outdraws Dooley in Primary Races

Bill Corrigan, the Republican challenger for St. Louis County executive, drew 17,844 more votes than County Executive Charlie Dooley in Tuesday's primaries. The result energized the Corrigan campaign. Dooley's spokeswoman said some factors unrelated to the Republican candidate increased Corrigan's total.

The county primary elections had a 23.34 percent turnout. Voters took 83,962 Republican ballots compared with 66,487 ballots for Democrats.

Corrigan drew 88.59 percent of the Republican primary vote for the office while Dooley received 75.82 percent of the Democratic vote.

The difference in the vote totals "sends a strong message that people are not happy with Dooley," Corrigan said.

Tuesday's result "is not an indication of the November election," Katy Jamboretz, spokeswoman for the Dooley campaign, said. A strongly contested race for the Republican nomination for state auditor drew voters to the Republican ballot, she said. Corrigan's television ads 10 days before the election increased his name recognition, she said.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/article_a857a49a-9f86-11df-a60a-00127992bc8b.html