Rep. Dick Gephardt (D) Elected 1976, 14th term
Born:	Jan. 31, 1941, St. Louis
Home:	St. Louis
Education:	Northwestern U., B.S. 1962, U. of MI, J.D. 1965
Religion:	Baptist
Marital Status:	married (Jane)
Elected  Office:	St. Louis City Alderman, 1971-76; Dem. Presidential Candidate, 1988.
Military Career:	Air Natl. Guard, 1965-71.
Professional Career:	Practicing atty., 1965-77.
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Middle America, it could be said, lies somewhere on the south side of metropolitan St. Louis. The geographical center of the country's population was here in 1980, just south of St. Louis in once rural and now mostly suburban Jefferson County; while that point has moved about 35 miles southwest, St. Louis is still the metro area nearest the midpoint of a country most of whose people live in million-plus metro areas. Geographically, this is a node where some of the nation's main arteries come together. The Missouri River flows into the Mississippi a few miles north of St. Louis's Gateway Arch; the National Road and its successors, U.S. 40 and Interstate 70, cross the Mississippi just below the Arch. And the great tides of Southerners migrating west up the Mississippi and Germans migrating overland met here to create one of the nation's largest and most bustling cities out of a town founded by the French before the Revolutionary War. The south side of St. Louis is famous for its tight-knit, neat neighborhoods and pleasant parks; its most famous symbols are the Anheuser-Busch brewery just south of downtown and Grant's Farm, where Ulysses S. Grant lived in the 1850s and where Anheuser-Busch now keeps the Budweiser Clydesdales. But many more people now live in the suburbs heading out all directions, well into Jefferson County to the south.

The 3d Congressional District consists of the south side of St. Louis, part of suburban St. Louis County and, to the south, Jefferson County and rural Ste. Genevieve County, the site of Missouri's oldest permanent settlement, founded near a salt mine in 1730. Its St. Louis County portions are mostly suburbs close to the St. Louis City line--Clayton, Maplewood, Richmond Heights, Webster Groves, Affton, Lemay, Oakville. This is the descendant of districts dominated by St. Louis voters, but today the city casts less than 25% of its votes, fewer than Jefferson County; almost half are cast in St. Louis County. Ethnically, this has been a heavily German-American area since the mid-19th century. Politically, it has been Democratic since the New Deal of the 1930s. The 2001 redistricting removed some Republican suburbs in southwest St. Louis County and reduced the Bush 2000 percentage from 46% to 43%.

The congressman from the 3d District is Richard Gephardt, first elected in 1976, a Democratic leader in the House for 18 years, presidential candidate in 1988 and again in 2003. Gephardt grew up on the south side of St. Louis, the son of a milk truck driver who worked himself up into the middle class. A bit too old and cautious to be part of the generation of Vietnam era student rebels, Gephardt returned home from law school in 1965 to work in a large downtown law firm, but was clearly intent on a traditional political career; he moved to the south side of St. Louis and was elected alderman in 1971. In 1976, when 3d District Congresswoman Leonor Sullivan announced her retirement, Gephardt jumped into the race as an anti-establishment candidate. He beat a labor union official in the primary and a former board of aldermen president in the general. Gephardt started off in the House as one of the new breed of Democrats who did not automatically embrace big government and higher taxes. With the help of Missouri's Richard Bolling, Gephardt got a seat on the Ways and Means Committee, rare for a freshman. He voted for the 1981 Reagan tax cut and was the House co-sponsor of New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley's bill that was the basis of the 1986 tax reform. Gephardt was one of the founders of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council and initially opposed many popular Democratic causes such as abortion, busing and raising the minimum wage.

Gephardt was elected caucus chairman over David Obey in 1984, and in the years that followed grew more in sync with the increasingly liberal tenor of the Democratic Caucus. Gephardt was a superb caucus politician and a good listener, a hard-working detail man, eager to absorb information and to sit through endless meetings, with a gift for molding compromises and positions that hold together the often unruly and divisive Democratic Caucus. When he ran for president he had the enthusiastic support of dozens of House colleagues as he spent 144 days in Iowa campaigning for the February 1988 caucuses. But he abandoned legislative work as he shifted to this new arena, sometimes to the dismay of allies, such as Ways and Means Committee chairman Dan Rostenkowski. He played little role in the 1986 tax reform he had originally co-sponsored; he changed his stand on abortion to pro-choice. In Iowa, he supported mandatory agricultural production controls, a non-starter even in a Democratic Congress. Even more prominently, he went on the offensive on trade issues. The United Auto Workers is a major factor in Iowa caucuses, and Gephardt came up with his amendment requiring retaliation against countries (chiefly, Japan) running large trade surpluses with the United States. Gephardt won the Iowa caucuses with 31% of the vote, to 27% for Paul Simon and 22% for Michael Dukakis. In New Hampshire, Gephardt found himself under attack for switching positions in a state that hates taxes and government regulation; he finished second with 20% to Dukakis's 36%. On Super Tuesday, Gephardt had run out of money, won only Missouri and quit the race.

Back in the House, Gephardt quickly rebounded to the ranks of party insider. In June 1989, when Speaker Jim Wright and Majority Whip Tony Coelho resigned and Thomas Foley was elected speaker, Gephardt ran for majority leader and defeated Georgian Ed Jenkins 181-76. Gephardt went to work creating a sense of camaraderie in a dispirited caucus. In the 1990 budget summit talks, Gephardt used OMB Director Richard Darman's desire for agreement to frame the issue as a choice between the Democrats' plan to tax the rich more and Bush's refusal to do so--a contrast that led to Republican losses in the 1990 election. In September 1990 Gephardt supported George Bush's dispatch of troops to the Persian Gulf, but in January 1991 he led House opposition to the Gulf War resolution and uncharacteristically stumbled by threatening to cut off funds for U.S. troops there.

In the early Clinton years, Gephardt combined ardent support for the administration on most issues with carefully calibrated dissent on others. His major dissent was on trade. He delayed opposing NAFTA for several months as he sought more concessions from administration officials but he eventually came out against it. He came up with his own plan to force Japan to meet numerical goals in opening its markets or face retaliation. Gephardt vigorously supported the Clinton health care plan in 1994 and tried to put together his own bill combining the Clinton and Ways and Means plans; but it was tough slogging and no bill came to the floor.

In November 1994, Clinton and House Democrats were stunningly repudiated. Democrats lost 52 seats. Speaker Foley lost his seat, and Gephardt was now minority leader as Democrats lost control of the House for the first time in 40 years. The strategy followed by Speakers Tip O'Neill, Jim Wright and Foley--hold the Democratic Caucus together enough to produce 218 votes--was now obsolete: there weren't 218 Democrats any more. Gephardt pushed aside a challenge by North Carolina's Charlie Rose for the party leadership, 150-58. But the day he handed over the gavel to Speaker Newt Gingrich, Gephardt later said, "was one of the worst days of my life."

In this setting Gephardt saw himself as an independent force. After support for Republicans and Gingrich plummeted during the government shutdown, he and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle came up with a united Democratic "Families First" platform, including tax deductions for child care, health insurance and higher education, a balanced budget and tough anti-crime measures. But the surging Clinton-Gore campaign ignored Gephardt and, though campaign polls showed Democrats ahead of Republicans in House races, ignored Democrats' efforts to win a majority in the House. Clinton and Gore each devoted one sentence in their acceptance speeches to the need for Democratic majorities in Congress. Gephardt's hard-fought effort to elect the majority and become speaker came crashing down in November 1996, as Democrats scored a nine-seat net gain but still had only 207 House seats, despite Gingrich's unpopularity, despite the AFL-CIO's $35 million ad campaign and despite Clinton's victory.

Over the next two years Gephardt's fortunes and strategies oscillated widely. Major budget issues were settled in negotiations between House Republicans and the White House, from which Gephardt was ostentatiously shut out. In December 1997 Gephardt made a speech at Harvard's Kennedy School, celebrating "core Democratic values," calling for the party to reject small-bore ideas and speak boldly to the needs of working people in the United States and around the world: a cri de coeur against the Clinton administration. For that Gephardt was criticized by many House Democrats. Still, he continued to receive great applause from AFL-CIO audiences, happy with his opposition to NAFTA and PNTR status with China, and angry at Al Gore's stands in favor.

Then came the Lewinsky scandal. Suddenly Clinton was finding his strongest defenders among the left wing of the congressional party; and he began making concessions to them. After Clinton's televised address to the nation in August when he conceded his inappropriate and "wrong" relationship with the White House intern, Gephardt, whose personal life is exemplary, called the president's conduct "reprehensible" and said impeachment was possible. He said he would decline to take a partisan role in defending Clinton, and began the impeachment inquiry process in a statesmanlike joint appearance with Gingrich. In December, Gephardt assailed Clinton's character and reliance on polls--but said he would vote against impeachment. On the day of the vote, speaking just after Bob Livingston made his breathtaking announcement that he would step down, Gephardt junked his previous draft and made an eloquent speech. "The politics of slash and burn must end," he said. "We need to stop destroying imperfect people at the altar of an unobtainable majority."

One reason for Democratic unity was that the party unexpectedly gained seats in the 1998 election, as Republican core voters were turned off by the tepid budget compromises the party's leaders accepted in October and Democrats were energized by their support of Clinton. Democrats gained five House seats, the first such gain for a president's party in an off-year election since 1934. Sensing that Democrats had a real chance for a majority, and deterred perhaps by the Clinton White House's all-out support of Al Gore, Gephardt in February 1999 announced--at a press conference emblazoned with "Speaker Gephardt" signs--that he would not run for president. As the year went on, the Clinton-Gore team took stands in line with Gephardt's, in rejecting Social Security investment accounts, which had a likely majority in Congress; in rejecting the Medicare changes worked out by Democrats John Breaux and Bob Kerrey; in replacing broad-based tax cuts with the targeted tax cuts favored by Clinton. Democrats demanded votes on issues on which they could amass bipartisan majorities--campaign finance, the minimum wage, education spending increases. In the process, Gephardt's relationship with the mild-mannered Speaker Dennis Hastert frayed. During 2000 they barely spoke, although Hastert was willing to negotiate with Minority Whip David Bonior.

Gephardt concentrated instead--and again--on winning back a majority in the House. He appointed Patrick Kennedy as chairman of the DCCC, not for his electoral skills but for his ability to raise money: Democrats all over the country paid money to see a Kennedy. Gephardt staffers took control of the DCCC, and did a fine job of targeting weak Republicans and fielding good candidates. It is hard to think of what else Gephardt could have done, yet on Election Day Democrats fell heartbreakingly short of their goal, as Republicans won 221 seats--three more than a 218 majority. Al Gore's candidacy did not help much; as Gephardt said later, "In retrospect, if we had a little wind at the top of the ticket, it would have helped some of those close races."

In the House, he reestablished a speaking relationship with Hastert after the election. But for all of George W. Bush's talk of a "new tone," Gephardt saw little bipartisanship from House Republicans. After the party switch by Jim Jeffords gave Democrats a majority in the Senate and made Tom Daschle the premier Democrat on Capitol Hill, Gephardt was even less relevant as Republicans passed bills in the House to pile on the doorstep of the Senate. That changed for a time after September 11, when Gephardt joined a handful of bipartisan leaders who worked closely and speedily to move emergency legislation and respond to further threats of terrorism. But the decision by Gephardt to oppose trade promotion authority mostly ended that cooperation. The one major exception came in September 2002, when--unlike 1991--he worked closely with Bush and independently of most House Democrats to support the use of force in Iraq, a step that angered many in his own party and assured easy passage of the resolution; Gephardt clearly believed that the nation was in peril and that he must act in what he felt were the nation's best interests regardless of partisan effect. But for months he had made clear that his political interest had shifted to the presidency and that the opportunity to become Speaker was no longer his predominant goal. Though few professed to know what Gephardt would do, most colleagues said that they would accept his decision. In the back of his mind were regrets about not challenging George H. W. Bush in 1992.

Back home, the 3d District has trended Republican, and Gephardt, despite spending millions of dollars every campaign year, has not topped 60% since 1992. In 1998 Republican William Federer, operating with only $196,000, held him to a 56%-42% margin. In 2000 Federer ran again; this time George W. Bush's uncle William Bush chaired his finance committee, and Federer spent $2.3 million. He launched sharp attacks on Gephardt on issues like gay rights, and Democrats punched back sharply. A Gephardt worker charged Federer with assault when he tried to prevent videotaping a parade in early October. Gephardt won 58%-40%. In 2002, in a more Democratic district, Gephardt faced term-limited state Representative Catherine Enz, who raised little money; Gephardt won 59%-39%. Gephardt led by only 55%-43% in St. Louis County and 56%-42% in Jefferson County, but carried St. Louis City 69%-28%.

In November 2002 Democrats failed for the fifth time in a row to win a majority of House seats. To the surprise of many, they lost six seats; this was the second consecutive off-year election in which the president's party gained seats, and perhaps it is time to junk the old political rule that it always loses. On Thursday Gephardt announced that he would step down from the position of Minority Leader; perhaps there would have been demands that he do so if he had not acted so quickly, perhaps not.

Gephardt later announced that he would not seek reelection to the House and would run for president in 2004. In the House he refused to take a committee assignment; he is likely to miss many floor votes when he is on the campaign and fundraising trails. He called for repealing the Bush tax cuts and, in April 2003, proposed that the federal government guarantee that all Americans have health insurance. In the 3d District, those named as possible candidates in 2004 included Democrats state Senator Steve Stoll, St. Louis Circuit Court Clerk Mariano Favazza and state Representative Russ Carnahan, son of the late governor Mel Carnahan and former Senator Jean Carnahan. Possible Republican candidates included Federer, former state Representatives Zane Yates and Catherine Enz, the 2002 nominee. The Democratic nominee would obviously be the favorite, but this could be a seriously contested district.

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DC Office
1236 LHOB 20515, 202-225-2671; Fax: 202-225-7452; Web site: www.house.gov/gephardt

State Offices
Festus, 636-937-6399; St. Louis, 314-894-3400.

Committees

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	CON	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2002	90	71	100	88	43	25	18	35	8	0	0
2001	95	--	100	93	--	--	9	30	13	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2001 LIB	--	2001 CONS		2002 LIB	--	2002 CONS
Economic	93%	--	8%		86%	--	12%
Social	81%	--	20%		72%	--	28%
Foreign	65%	--	36%		69%	--	30%
For National Journal's complete 2002 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 107th Congress (More Info)
1. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 2. Limit Patients' Bill of Rights N 3. Campaign Finance Reform Y 4. Ban ANWR Development Y 5. Faith-Based Charities N 6. Bar Gays in the Boy Scouts N		7. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  8. Arm Commercial Pilots N  9. Trade Promotion Authority N 10. Bar Funds for Intl. Court N 11. Authorize Force in Iraq Y 12. Deny Home. Sec. Dept. Union N

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2002 general	Dick Gephardt (D)	122,181	59%	$3,389,306
	Catherine Enz (R)	80,551	39%	$114,143
	Other	4,146	2%
2002 primary	Dick Gephardt (D)	44,535	74%
	Michael Bram (D)	16,014	26%
2000 general	Dick Gephardt (D)	147,222	58%	$5,580,964
	William J. Federer (R)	100,967	40%	$2,319,819
	Other	6,350	2%
Prior winning percentages: 1998 (56%); 1996 (59%); 1994 (58%); 1992 (64%); 1990 (57%); 1988 (63%); 1986 (69%); 1984 (100%); 1982 (78%); 1980 (78%); 1978 (82%); 1976 (64%)

2000 presidential
	Gore (D)	140,954	54%
	Bush (R)	112,460	43%
	Other	7,972	3%
For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Third District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D + 5
• District Size: 1,266 square miles
• Population in 2000: 621,690; 86.7% urban; 13.3% rural
• Median Household Income: $41,091; 10.1% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 24.2% blue collar; 60.4% white collar; 15.4% gray collar; 13.2% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 85.7% White, 9.1% Black, 1.6% Asian, 0.2% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.4% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 1.8% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 23.1% German, 11.6% Irish, 5.9% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.