Zimmerman Wins St. Louis County Assessor Race by Large Margin

easily became St. Louis County's first elected assessor in 40 years, gaining 63.7 percent of the vote to 36.2 percent for . The vote total was 73,356 to 41,645 with 207 write-in votes.

Zimmerman said he thought the large margin of victory happened because people want accountability in the assessor’s office.

“The people of St. Louis County are looking for an accountable assessor who will treat people fairly whether their home is worth $50,000 or $500,000,” he said.

The first order of business is a top to bottom review of processes in the office, Zimmerman said.

It’s too early to tell if that will solve problems, he said. Zimmerman said he is confident he will find “a lot of people in the assessor’s office that are committed to building a transparent and accountable assessor’s office.”

Wood called to concede the election at about 10:30 a.m., Zimmerman said.

“He was very nice. I admired his professionalism,” he said.

During his acceptance speech, Zimmerman said he would call upon Wood as assessor.

“Chip has a lot of ideas about making the appeals process more fair and more equitable,” Zimmerman said. “He and I had the same idea; we both wanted to make sure that the assessments reflect the actual value of the home.

“He has a lot of expertise in that area that we can draw on—as we will do with other stakeholders in that process,” he said.

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley attended Zimmerman’s victory party.

“I think this is a great victory for St. Louis,” Dooley said. “I’m convinced he will do a marvelous job and will represent the citizens of St. Louis County well. He cares about the people of St. Louis County, and the people of St. Louis County recognized that tonight.”

Zimmerman claimed victory in the St. Louis County assessor race at about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Zimmerman had a commanding lead, 62.67 percent of the vote to Wood's 37.16 percent, with 87 percent of the precincts reporting. The Olivette state representative had 58,544 votes to 34,715 for Wood.

In a speech, Zimmerman said, "I've been in enough parties like this on the losing side to know when it's impossible to come back."

Zimmerman thanked all his supporters for their work during the campaign. He also extended an olive branch to Wood.

"We have run a great campaign, but from here on out, it's not about politics," he said. "It's about treating people the same and getting it done right."

"He's committed, like every person in this room, to making the St. Louis County assessor's office the best it can be," Zimmerman said. "I look forward to sitting down with him and talking about his ideas, because he had some pretty good ones."

He began shaking hands and hugging people in the crowd as his supporters chanted, "Jake! Jake! Jake!"

Earlier story:

Zimmerman took an early lead over Wood after the Board of Elections reported the absentee ballot results.

Zimmerman has 5,067 votes to 3,346 for Wood. Polls were closed for nearly three hours before the Board of Elections posted the absentee results.

Zimmerman arrived at his election watch party at the in Clayton to cheers from the crowded bar.

He said, "It looks good, but it's early. Everybody have a beer."

The assessor election pits an experienced politician and legislator, Zimmerman, against Wood, a businessman with 37 years of experience in real estate.

Zimmerman, of Olivette, has been the state representative for the District 83 since 2007. He also served as assistant attorney general and as deputy chief legal counsel for former Missouri Governor Bob Holden.

This was Wood’s first run for political office. He is a semi-retired executive with 38 years of real estate experience at his family-owned firm, L.K. Wood Real Estate. He said his real estate and business experience would be invaluable in determining assessments and running the St. Louis County Assessment Division.

St. Louis County voters decided last August to make the assessor an elected position. Supporters of the measure said it would make the position more responsive to residents rather than the politicians who appointed them. St. Louis County has had an appointed assessor since 1971.

Sparks flew between the candidates when Zimmerman’s campaign noted that Wood’s firm was late in paying city and county personal property taxes.

Wood said that the economic downturn had hurt his family’s real estate business, which found itself short of cash and faced with a decision to pay the City of St. Louis taxes totaling $12,458 or keep his business running, according to an article on stltoday.com.

His business also paid county personal property taxes late after the bill was sent to the wrong address, he said. Wood moved his office from Gravois Road in South St. Louis County to Hampton Road in the City of St. Louis, but the tax bills were mailed to the old address.

Wood had pointed out that Zimmerman twice voted against making the St. Louis County assessor an elected position rather than an appointed position.

Zimmerman said he voted against the change because he does not believe the State of Missouri should make that call for St. Louis County. It should be the county voters’ decision, he said.

St. Louis County voters approved making the assessor an elected position last August, approving the move with nearly a 74 percent majority.

The winner of this election will serve a term that runs through Dec. 31, 2014. Beginning with the election in November 2014, assessors will serve four-year terms. The position will be paid $95,000 a year.