Sen. Jim Talent (R) Elected 2002, 1st term up 2006
Born:	Oct. 18, 1956, Des Peres
Home:	Chesterfield
Education:	Washington U., B.S. 1978, U. of Chicago Law Schl., J.D. 1981
Religion:	Presbyterian
Marital Status:	married (Brenda)
Elected  Office:	MO House of Reps., 1984-92, Min. Ldr., 1989-92; U.S. House of Reps., 1992-00.
Professional Career:	Practicing atty., 1981-92; Law Clerk, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner, 1982-83.
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Jim Talent, a Republican, was elected Missouri's junior senator in 2002. He grew up in Des Peres and lives in Chesterfield, in western St. Louis County. He graduated from Washington University and the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for Judge Richard Posner, the federal bench's most prolific writer of opinions and books. He returned to St. Louis and practiced business law. In 1984, at 28, he was elected to the state House. He served as House Minority Leader from 1989 to 1992. In 1992 he ran for the 2d District House seat in the St. Louis suburbs and in the primary beat George W. Bush's cousin George Herbert Walker 58%-32%. In the general Talent faced Democratic incumbent Joan Kelly Horn, who in 1990 defeated Republican Jack Buechner by a grand total of 54 votes. Redistricting had made the district more Republican, and Talent won 50%-48%.

In the House he had a solidly conservative record and became a leader on some conservative causes. On the Armed Services Committee he decried the Clinton defense budget cuts and managed to save the F-18, assembled by Boeing (formerly McDonnell Douglas) in St. Louis. In his first term he sponsored a welfare bill much like the one passed in 1996, and in 1996 he teamed with J.C. Watts to sponsor the American Community Renewal Act, to encourage enterprise zones, capital gains tax cuts, reduction of red tape and public-private partnerships in central cities. In 1997 he became chairman of the Small Business Committee where he often worked in tandem with Missouri's Christopher Bond, who chaired the Senate Small Business Committee. In November 1998, when Speaker Newt Gingrich announced he would resign, Talent started running for speaker. But when Majority Whip Tom DeLay endorsed Bob Livingston, Talent withdrew from the race.

Talent was reelected by wide margins and could probably have held the House seat for many years. But in February 1999 he announced he was running for governor. He won the primary without serious competition and was locked in a close race with state Treasurer Bob Holden. The central figure in that contest was Mel Carnahan, incumbent Democratic candidate for governor and candidate against Senator John Ashcroft. Then, on October 16, 22 days before the election, Carnahan was killed in a plane crash. The campaigns were suspended; it was too late to change the ballots. A week later Governor Roger Wilson offered to appoint Jean Carnahan to the seat if her husband got more votes than Ashcroft; on October 30 she agreed and in effect became the candidate. On election night Democrats persuaded a judge to hold the polls in St. Louis open an extra 45 minutes. George W. Bush carried the state 50%-47%, but Mel Carnahan led Ashcroft 51%-48% and Bob Holden edged Talent 49%-48%, with a margin of 21,000 votes. Ashcroft conceded, although some Republicans urged him to contest the result, and Wilson appointed Jean Carnahan to the vacancy in December. Under Missouri law, she would serve two years and an election for what would be the remaining four years of the term was held in November 2002.

In the Senate Carnahan was one of 42 Democrats to vote against the confirmation of Ashcroft to be attorney general and was one of 12 Democrats who voted for the $1.3 trillion tax cut in May 2001. Talent, whose family has always remained in St. Louis County, got a fellowship at Washington University and worked part-time for a law firm in Washington. Talent, with his nearly successful showing and his congressional experience, seemed a likely candidate for the Senate. Carnahan declined to say whether she was running but in the first half of 2001 her campaign committee raised $2.3 million. Hovering over the race, as in November 2000, were the tragic circumstances in which Carnahan had come to office. "It's like the elephant in the room. It's always there," said Talent. "Sympathy is a factor, but I don't know how much of a factor it is in the campaign. I think the people still feel sympathy. I do. I knew Mel for 15 years. But I think people view the election as about what we're going to do in the future rather than what happened in the past." Talent's approach was to stress his experience in office and in-depth knowledge of issues; after all, he had served in elective office for 16 years while Carnahan had never been elected to anything. Carnahan did have some political experience: for 40 years she kept a card catalogue of her husband's political acquaintances and wrote many of his speeches; she had an appealing personality and could speak articulately about issues. But in July 2002 National Journal's Charlie Cook wrote of "considerable anecdotal evidence from … both parties that Carnahan sometimes seems lost in the Senate."

Carnahan stressed that she had voted with George W. Bush 71% of the time, but also made standard Democratic arguments on issues like Social Security and prescription drugs. She boasted of her role in negotiating the merger of TWA, a big employer in St. Louis, into American Airlines. One Republican ad accused her of "undermining national unity" by opposing the administration stimulus package and she was attacked for opposing Bush's position on homeland security. Talent quoted the Bible readily; raised in a Jewish family, he became a Christian and as an adult had a profound religious experience while listening to evangelist Luis Palau on Focus on the Family.

Carnahan led in polls up through the summer, as national Democratic groups and her campaign dominated the airwaves. But Talent seemed to pull ahead in September. In late October the race tightened again; the death of Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone in a plane crash October 25 may have reminded many voters of Mel Carnahan's death in October 2000. George W. Bush came to Missouri to campaign for Talent no less than five times, including an appearance in St. Charles the day before the election. This may have made the difference. This was a close race: Talent won 50%-49%, with a 21,000-vote margin. He lost the St. Louis area 53%-46% and the Kansas City area 57%-41%, but carried rural Missouri 57%-42%.

Talent became a senator when the results were certified November 23. He said he would concentrate on reauthorization of the 1996 welfare act and on his bill to enable small businesses to buy health care plans through trade associations. On abortion he urged a cautious approach. "Since we now have leadership that is favorable to the whole agenda of protecting life, I hope we will step back and ask ourselves, 'What is the best way of doing that right now?' And then pursue those in a respectful way, in a way where we listen to the other side, where we seek as broad a coalition as we can, but we keep moving forward." He got a seat on the Armed Services Committee, as he had in the House, and called for increased defense spending; he was named chairman of the Seapower Subcommittee, an unusual post for a freshman.

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DC Office
493 RSOB 20510, 202-224-6154; Fax: 202-228-1518; Web site: www.talent.senate.gov

State Offices
Cape Girardeau, 573-651-0964; Jefferson City,573-636-1070; Kansas City,816-421-1639; Springfield,417-831-2735; St. Louis,314-432-5211.

Committees

• Aging (Special).
• Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry: Forestry, Conservation & Rural Revitalization; Marketing, Inspection & Product Promotion (Chmn.).
• Armed Services: Airland; Emerging Threats & Capabilities; Readiness & Management Support; Seapower (Chmn.).
• Energy & Natural Resources: Energy; Public Lands & Forests; Water & Power.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2002 general	Jim Talent (R)	935,032	50%	$8,322,003
	Jean Carnahan (D)	913,778	49%	$12,293,579
	Other	28,810	2%
2002 primary	Jim Talent (R)	395,994	90%
	Joseph May (R)	18,525	4%
	Other	27,552	6%
2000 general	Mel Carnahan (D)	1,191,812	51%	$8,800,864
	John Ashcroft (R)	1,142,852	48%	$9,378,581
	Other	26,922	1%
Prior winning percentages: 1998 House (70%); 1996 House (61%); 1994 House (67%); 1992 House (50%)