Jean Carnahan

Jean Carnahan
United States Senator from Missouri
In office January 3, 2001 – December 14, 2002
Appointed by	Roger Wilson
Preceded by	John Ashcroft
Succeeded by	Jim Talent
First Lady of Missouri
In office January 11, 1993 – October 16, 2000
Governor	Mel Carnahan
Preceded by	Janet Ashcroft
Succeeded by	Patricia Wilson
Personal details
Born	Jean Anne Carpenter (1933-12-20) December 20, 1933 Washington D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Mel Carnahan (1954–2000)
Alma mater	George Washington University
Religion	Southern Baptist

Jean Anne Carpenter Carnahan (born December 20, 1933) is an American politician and writer who served as First Lady of Missouri from 1993 to 2000, and as her state's junior U.S. senator from 2001 to 2002. A Democrat, she was appointed to the Senate to fill the seat of her husband, Mel Carnahan, who was posthumously elected to the seat in 2000. She became the first woman to represent Missouri in the Senate.

Life and career

Born Jean Anne Carpenter in Washington, D.C. to a working-class family, she was determined to go to college. She worked through the year while attending George Washington University. She graduated in 1955 with a degree in Business and Public Administration, the first in her family to graduate from high school and college. She is an alumna of Kappa Delta sorority. She married Mel Carnahan in 1954.

As Mel Carnahan entered politics, Jean Carnahan was his political partner for several decades. Mel Carnahan was elected Governor of Missouri, serving 1993–2000. Mrs. Carnahan was an activist First Lady, an advocate for on-site day care centers for working families, childhood immunization, abuse centers, the arts, and Habitat for Humanity.

Main articles: United States Senate election in Missouri, 2000 and United States Senate special election in Missouri, 2002

In 2000, Governor Mel Carnahan ran for a Senate seat from Missouri against incumbent Republican John Ashcroft. Only three weeks before election day, Carnahan was killed in an airplane crash, along with his son Randy (who piloted the plane) and Chris Sifford, the governor's chief of staff and campaign advisor). Due to the short amount of time before the election, the Missouri election law did not allow Carnahan's name to be removed from the November 2000 ballot. Acting Governor Roger B. Wilson announced that he would appoint Jean Carnahan if her husband were to posthumously win the election.

Out of respect, Ashcroft suspended his campaign during the mourning period for Mel Carnahan. Jean Carnahan did not actively campaign but announced that she intended to accept Wilson's appointment, She filmed one campaign commercial.

The race between Ashcroft and Mel Carnahan had been close. Carnahan posthumously won (51-48%), receiving 1.19 million votes out of 2.36 million cast, and Jean Carnahan was appointed to the Senate in 2001. Under Missouri law, she would serve only until a special election could be held.

The defeated Senator Ashcroft was nominated by Republican President-elect George W. Bush to be US attorney general, and because cabinet appointments are subject to Senate approval, Jean Carnahan found herself in the unusual position of casting a vote against the nomination of her former opponent.

In 2002, the special election was held for the remainder of the six-year term. Jean Carnahan ran, but was defeated in a close race by Republican James Talent; the margin was only 22,000 votes (49.8–48.6%).

The 2004 elections proved better for the Carnahan family, when Jean Carnahan's son, Russ Carnahan, was elected to Congress and her daughter Robin Carnahan was elected Missouri's Secretary of State. Robin's bid to follow her mother as a United States Senator failed, however, when she was defeated by Republican U.S. Representative Roy Blunt in the 2010 election to succeed Missouri's senior Senator, Republican Kit Bond. Russ Carnahan lost his House seat in the 2012 elections after his district was eliminated, forcing him to run in the Democratic primary against fellow incumbent William Lacy Clay, Jr., whose district encompassing inner city St. Louis was kept largely intact.

Since losing her Senate race, Jean Carnahan has continued as an activist and author. She has written four books and numerous opinion pieces.

She is among the former Missouri First Ladies who have participated in the cherry blossom tree planting in Marshfield, Missouri.

Electoral history

• 2002 race for U.S. Senate (special election to fill remainder of term)
  • Jim Talent (R), 50%
  • Jean Carnahan (D) (inc.), 49%
• 2000 race for U.S. Senate
  • Mel Carnahan (D), 51% (posthumously elected; Jean Carnahan appointed to fill seat)
  • John Ashcroft (R) (inc.), 48%

Books by Jean Carnahan

• (1998) If Walls Could Talk: The Story of Missouri’s First Families. MMPI ISBN 0-9668992-0-2.
• (1999) Christmas at the Mansion. MMPI ISBN 0-9668992-1-0.
• (2000) Will You Say a Few Words?. Walsworth Publishing Co. ISBN 0-8262-1513-0.
• (2004) Don’t Let the Fire Go Out!. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 0-8262-1513-0.
• (2009) The Tide Always Comes Back. Skyhorse Publishing ISBN 1-60239-744-9.
• (2012) A Little Help from My Friends...and Other Hilarious Tales of Graying Graciously. Vantage Point Books ISBN 1-936467-23-2.

See also

• Women in the United States Senate

References

• Bio by Fired Up Missouri
• Online News Hour account of the 2000 election
• Online News Hour account of the 2002 election

United States Senate
Preceded by John Ashcroft	United States Senator (Class 1) from Missouri 2001–2002 Served alongside: Kit Bond	Succeeded by Jim Talent
Party political offices
Preceded by Mel Carnahan	Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Missouri (Class 1) 2002	Succeeded by Claire McCaskill