2004 St. Louis County Executive special election

2004 St. Louis County Executive special election
November 2, 2004
 
Nominee Charlie Dooley Gene McNary
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 280,520 242,903
Percentage 52.90% 45.80%

County Executive before election

Charlie Dooley
Democratic

Elected County Executive

Charlie Dooley
Democratic

The 2004 St. Louis County Executive special election took place on November 2, 2004. County Executive Buzz Westfall, who was elected to his fourth term in 2002, died on October 27, 2003, following an illness. County Councilman Charlie Dooley, who briefly served as Acting County Executive as Westfall's condition worsened, was elected by the Council to serve until a special election could be held.

Dooley ran in the special election to serve out the remainder of Westfall's term. He won the primary election and advanced to the general election, where he faced former County executive Gene McNary. Dooley defeated McNary, 53–46 percent, a narrower margin than Westfall's past elections and slightly worse than Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's performance in the presidential election.