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The county charter requires the county executive name members of the 14-member Bipartisan Reapportionment Commission — one Republican and one Democrat from each of the seven council districts — from lists provided by each party. But the charter doesn’t require the county executive to rely on the lists when replacements are named to fill vacancies.

The two GOP appointees, Scott Musgrave, of Florissant in the council’s 4th District, and John Kelly, of St. Ann in the council’s 2nd District, told the Post-Dispatch they were not previously involved with the Republican central committee or electoral politics. But both men said they considered themselves lifelong conservatives who have long voted for Republican candidates. Missouri is an open primary state and doesn’t require voters to register for a particular party.

Still, GOP central committee president Rene Artman and Republican redistricting chair Becky Arps question why Page’s office didn’t nominate a Maryland Heights man they had apply for the 2nd District seat, to which Kelly was appointed.

And this week, some Republicans, including elected officials, and a screenshot of part of a Facebook message from a relative of one of Page’s top advisers seeking “assistance in finding a Republican who lives in� the 4th District. Lionel Philips, in the message, wrote that his cousin, Cora Faith Walker — Page’s chief policy adviser — asked him “to help her find someone to be appointed to the county’s redistricting commission, ASAP.�

“The person really doesn’t have to be a card-carrying Republican but needs to be willing to sign an affidavit saying they are Republican,� Philips wrote.

Artman read the message aloud during the public comment period at the County Council meeting on Tuesday, accusing Page of not following “rules.�

“Republicans, when they were removed, they’re supposed to be replaced by Republicans,� she said.

The screenshot of the message included a phone number for Philips but did not show to whom the message was sent.

It was sent to Andrew Jones of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, a two-time Republican candidate for mayor in the overwhelmingly Democratic city. Jones this month announced he planned to seek election in the Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, which is currently represented by Democrat Cori Bush.

Philips said Artman and other Republicans knowingly omitted Jones from screenshot.

“I’m asking a Republican to find a Republican,� Philips said. “What’s shady about that?�

Philips said he knew Jones from Omega Psi Phi, an African American fraternity. The full message, which he provided to the Post-Dispatch, was sent Nov. 4, after the two spoke at a recent birthday party for a mutual friend: “Andrew, this is Lionel Philips, the Fraternity brother who spoke to you this past Saturday ...�

Philips, who owns a ready-mix concrete business, described himself as a Republican-leaning independent who worked on the 2010 campaign for Bill Corrigan, the Republican nominee for county executive that year.

Philips said he felt it was important to mention the affidavit because “no one is a card-carrying Democrat or Republican, they just show up and vote the way they are.�

He thought he had sent the message to Jones’ personal account, but he instead messaged Jones’ political campaign page. A staffer, Jones said, forwarded the message to the county GOP.

Jones said he hadn’t seen the Facebook message until Philips called him Tuesday asking why it was circulating online.

“I thought he was texting me to get some input from me, and certainly there’s nothing wrong with someone reaching out,� he said. “I don’t think there was anything untoward about the whole thing.�

“But it went to a public format, and that’s what opened it up to a public interpretation.�

Artman said she did not know the message was sent to Jones, whom she said she only recently met.

She said she had only seen the part of Philips’ message that she read aloud before the County Council. She declined to share her copy with the Post-Dispatch or say who sent it to her.

The fact a Republican was the recipient didn’t change her mind, Artman said.

“That message never should have been sent out,� she said. “He put in writing you don’t have to be a Republican, you just have to sign an affidavit saying you are. So what would you interpret that to mean?�

Artman said Page’s office should have reached out to her or Arps to find replacements for the two vacancies.

“If they were having such trouble finding a Republican, why didn’t they go to the committee chair or co-chairman of redistricting?�

Walker, the policy adviser and a former Democratic state representative from Ferguson, could not be reached for comment Friday.

Page spokesman Doug Moore said the county executive is not required by the charter to name people the party nominated. He implied others recommended by the Republicans had supported the violent riot Jan. 6 to in the U.S. Capitol to protest Donald Trump’s failed reelection bid.

“If the Republican chair won’t give us eligible names, the charter allows Dr. Page to choose others, and they may be Republicans who do not think the insurrection on Jan. 6 was a good idea,� Moore said in a written statement.

Moore did not identify the Republicans who supported the insurrection, and did not answer other questions.

Musgrave said he did not know Jones or Philips or anyone else. Musgrave, 56, said he was a lifelong conservative who almost always voted for Republicans. Asked if he voted for any Democrats, he said former county prosecutor Bob McCulloch was the only one he could recall.

An office administrator of a law firm, he has been a member of the Knights of Columbus for 30 years and performed a lot of charity and community service, he said. He heard about the redistricting process when friends were talking about the news and decided to apply because he “just wanted to do a public service.�

“I enjoy trying to work things out,� he said. “I’ve always been a numbers person, as far as looking at everything and seeing how it’s all been done. I’m a pretty even-scaled guy, I would look at all the facts before I make my decision.�

Artman also alleged that Kelly, the 2nd District appointee, had told her, at a previous meeting of the commission, that he was asked to join the panel by a Democratic state representative, and that he said he “didn’t consider himself a Republican.�

Kelly denied the allegations: “I am a Republican.�