Robin Carnahan

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Robin Carnahan
38th Missouri Secretary of State
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 9, 2005
Preceded by	Matt Blunt
Born	August 4, 1961 (1961-08-04) (age 48) Rolla, Missouri, United States
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Juan Carlos Antolinez
Alma mater	University of Virginia, William Jewell College
Profession	Businesswoman, Attorney
Religion	Baptist
Website	Secretary of State’s Website Campaign Website

Robin Carnahan (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician, daughter of Missouri politicians Mel and Jean Carnahan and the current Missouri Secretary of State. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Carnahan has announced her intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in 2010, to replace retiring Republican Sen. Kit Bond.

Early life and career

Robin Carnahan grew up near Rolla, Missouri, the only daughter in a family of four children. After graduating from Rolla High School, she enrolled at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, where she graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Economics.

Carnahan continued her education at the University of Virginia School of Law where she served as Executive Editor of the Virginia Journal of International Law before receiving her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1986. She returned to Missouri and began practicing law with the St. Louis law firm of Thompson & Mitchell, where she focused on business and corporate law.

In 1990 Carnahan went to work to help rebuild the democracies and economies in central Europe.^{[citation needed]} As part of a team from the National Democratic Institute, she helped draft voting laws, train new political leaders and monitor elections in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.^{[citation needed]} Since then, she has worked in six countries to promote democracy and free elections. Later, Carnahan served as an executive at the Export-Import Bank of the United States.^{[citation needed]} At the bank, Carnahan worked to help American companies increase the sale of their goods and services to buyers around the world.^{[citation needed]}

Today, Carnahan still manages her family's farm and Angus cattle operation outside of Rolla, Missouri.^{[citation needed]}

Political career

On November 2, 2004, Robin Carnahan was elected as Missouri's 38th Secretary of State. In her first bid for elected office, she defeated then-Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives Catherine Hanaway (R) in a close race. She ascended quickly and was named in 2005 as one of 24 "rising stars" in American politics by the Aspen Institute's Rodel Foundation, a leading nonpartisan think tank.

Coming into office, one of Carnahan’s priorities was to reduce red-tape for businesses. She has succeeded in moving more than 80% of business filings online and in the process saved millions of dollars for Missouri businesses and taxpayers.^{[citation needed]} Protecting Missouri investors, particularly seniors, by cracking down on scam artists has been another priority. The Securities Division under her direction has taken the lead on a number of high profile cases, including a national settlement in August 2008 in which Wachovia Securities agreed to repay over 40,000 investors who had nearly $9 billion frozen in auction-rate securities accounts.^{[citation needed]}

Carnahan also has worked to increase access to public documents and information by dramatically expanding online availability of information through the Missouri State Archives and Missouri State Library. The award-winning Death Records and Missouri Digital Heritage projects have become favorites for genealogists, students and historians around the country receiving over 23 million hits in the past year.^{[citation needed]}

Helping local election authorities prepare for the historic 2008 elections was a collaborative effort led by Carnahan who worked with Missouri's local election authorities to ensure all eligible Missourians had access to the ballot box and that all Missourians had confidence in the integrity of the elections. She has been a strong advocate for early voting, paper ballots and better training for Election Day poll workers.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, Carnahan served as Co-Chair of the Elections Committee of the National Association of Secretaries of State and continues to serve on the Executive Committee, as well as Chair of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State. She often is called upon to testify on election matters before US House and Senate Committees.

In November 2008, Carnahan was reelected with nearly 62% of the vote by receiving over 1.7 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in Missouri history.

On February 3, 2009, she announced she will run for United States Senate in 2010 to replace retiring U.S. Senator Kit Bond, saying it's time to “stop the political bickering and start solving problems”.^[1]

Family legacy

Carnahan comes from a family that has been active in Missouri politics for several generations. Her father, Mel Carnahan served in several offices and was Governor of Missouri from 1993 until his death in 2000. Her mother, Jean Carnahan served Missouri as a United States Senator when she was appointed to fill the seat Gov. Carnahan won posthumously. Her grandfather, A.S.J. Carnahan served as Congressman from south-central Missouri (until he lost the 1960 Democratic primary to a more conservative Democrat, Congressman Richard Ichord) and as the first U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone, appointed by President John F. Kennedy.

Her brother Russ Carnahan is a member of Congress and represents the southern portion of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. Her brother Tom Carnahan is president of Wind Capital Group. Robin Carnahan is married to Juan Carlos Antolinez.

On February 27, 2006 Carnahan announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She continued to serve as Secretary of State while undergoing treatment and her cancer is in remission.^[2]

Electoral history

References

• http://www.sos.mo.gov/enrweb/raceresults.asp?eid=8&oid=2151&arc=1
• http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/news-politicalfix/2006/02/robin-carnahan-announces-she-has-breast-cancer/
• http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/the-platform/published-editorials/2008/08/wednesday-editorial-not-just-like-cash/
• http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2008/11/02/missouri-ranks-among-states-best-prepared-polling/

Notes

External links

• Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan official state site
• Follow the Money - Robin Carnahan 2004 campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart - Robin Carnahan (MO) profile
• Robin Carnahan for Senate official campaign site
• Missouri Digital Heritage Missouri Digital Heritage