Mel Carnahan

Mel Carnahan
Melvin Eugene Carnahan (February 11, 1934 – October 16, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 51st Governor of Missouri from 1993 until his death in 2000. A Democrat, he held various positions, including stints as a state Representative, where he rose to the position of majority leader, as State Treasurer and as Lieutenant Governor. He was elected Governor of Missouri in 1992 and re-elected in 1996. In 2000, he ran for the U.S. Senate against incumbent John Ashcroft in a hotly contested race. During the final weeks of the campaign, Carnahan was killed in a plane crash on his way to a campaign event. However, he was elected posthumously to the U.S. Senate, and his widow, Jean, served in his stead until a special election was held in 2002.
Early life and education
Carnahan was born in Birch Tree, Missouri, and grew up on a small farm near Ellsinore, Missouri, He was the son of Kathel (Schupp) and A. S. J. Carnahan, and had one sibling, an older brother Robert "Bob" Carnahan. Carnahan's father was the superintendent of Ellsinore schools who, in 1944, was elected to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1945 to 1947 and 1949 to 1961. He would later become the U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone under John F. Kennedy. When he was 12, Carnahan traveled with his father across the district, attending local events. In 1948, because his father was running for congress, Carnahan was present for Harry Truman's last campaign stop in St. Louis. Carnahan would later reflect that it was from his father that he developed a desire for public service.
Carnahan moved with his family to Washington, D.C. in 1945 and returned in 1949, the year he met his future wife Jean. There he graduated from Anacostia High School in 1952 and earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in business administration from George Washington University in 1954. He married Jean Anne Carpenter that same year and also entered the United States Air Force during the Korean War. He failed the physical due to passing out during a blood test. As a result, he served as a special agent for the Office of Special Investigation, rising to the rank of First Lieutenant. In 1956, he and his wife moved back to his home state of Missouri. He received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia, Missouri, in 1959, graduating with the highest honors. He then moved to Rolla, the largest city in his father's congressional district.
Early political career
State legislator
Carnahan's political career started in 1960 at the age of 26 when he was elected to serve as a municipal judge in Rolla. Two years later he was elected as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives representing the Rolla area. In 1964, he was elected by the Democratic caucus to be assistant floor leader to majority leader H.P Patterson. A few months later, Paterson died and Carnahan was elected by the caucus to be his successor.
During his tenure, the state was forced to redraw its legislative districts due to a federal court ruling the districts suffered from malapportionment. Carnahan helped conceive a redistricting plan, though it was rejected by voters in a special election. He later clashed with Democratic Governor Warren Hearnes over his reapportionment plan for state districts, in which Hearnes would pick the members of the independent committee, as opposed to the legislature. Eventually, a compromise was reached, leading to the creation of a new redistricting commission.
In 1966, Carnahan ran for the state Senate, running in the 20th district. In the Democratic primary, he faced Gene Sally, a former state representative, a former state senator and an appointee of Governor Hearnes to a state commission. Carnahan defeated Sally in what his wife Jean later described as one of the most hard fought races he had run. Carnahan faced Republican state senator Don Owens in the general election. The district was considered more Democratic leaning, but was thought to be competitive. In November, Carnahan was defeated by Owens. Carnahan later reflected on the defeat, saying "Strangely enough, I value the experience of losing. It does something to you, but it gives perspective."
After his defeat, and after his term in the state house expired, Carnahan returned to practicing law in Rolla. He also held a role in the charcoal company his father founded, until giving away his share of the company to his brother in 1975. He would also become president of the Rolla school board. During his tenure on the board, he brought in a new superintendent and helped raise funds to build a new junior high.
State Treasurer
In 1979, Carnahan announced his return to politics by declaring his bid for Missouri State Treasurer, also intended as a launching pad for a future gubernatorial run. He had briefly considered a bid for Missouri's 8th congressional district being vacated by Richard Ichord, the man who beat his father in 1960, but passed on it.
In the Democratic primary, he faced state Representative and former House Majority Whip Ed Sweeney. Sweeney attacked Carnahan as being beholden to banking interests, in part due to donations from banking interests. Carnahan criticized Sweeney for being hypocritical due to seeking out banking interests himself, albeit unsuccessfully. Carnahan defeated Sweeney and faced former state senator Gerald Winship for the general election. Carnahan focused his campaign on continuing the work of outgoing Treasurer James Spainhower and refrained from personal attacks on his opponent. He won and was back in elected office for the first time since 1966. He served in that post from 1981 to 1985. During his tenure, he activated a policy would give state funds to banks that gave agricultural related loans.
In 1984 Carnahan ran for Governor of Missouri. During his campaign, Carnahan walked from St. Louis to Kansas City to meet voters. The walk began in May and ended in June, with Carnahan having walked over 300 miles. That August, Carnahan lost the Democratic primary election to then-Lieutenant Governor Kenneth Rothman, who lost the general election that year to state Attorney General John Ashcroft. That same year, he took a public stand against Missouri ballot issues, Amendments 5 and 7, which would legalize parimutuel betting and create a state lottery, though conceded during his gubernatorial campaign that he would implement them if the public supported them. Both amendments would pass with over 60% of the vote.
Lieutenant Governor
After his defeat, Carnahan returned to practicing law in Rolla. In 1986, he was sought by Democrats to run for Missouri's 8th congressional district against incumbent Bill Emerson. He did not run, and Wayne Crits would ultimately become the Democratic nominee. During this time, Carnahan also expressed interest at the prospect of becoming chair of the Missouri Democratic Party. Instead, after initially expressing a lack of interest in running, Carnahan waited until 1988, and made his second comeback to electoral politics by running forand winning the job of Lieutenant Governor. The role of Lieutenant Governor had been seen as largely irrelevant, and some officials even proposed doing away with the position. Nevertheless, Carnahan fought for more funding for the office, and to expand his staffing, and his access to state planes. He also expressed interest in using the office for highway development.
Carnahan's election to the Lieutenant Governorship was the sole Democratic statewide win that year. In 1990, a brief dispute emerged when Carnahan, as acting governor, signed legislation into law, but Republican Secretary of State Roy Blunt refused to authorize any of what he signed. Republican Governor John Ashcroft called upon the Supreme Court of Missouri to clarify the Lieutenant Governor's role while the Governor was out of state. A circuit judge eventually ruled the Governor was in charge, a ruling later affirmed by the state's Supreme Court. This time together would later be speculated to be the beginning of a bitter rivalry between Ashcroft and Carnahan.
While serving as Lieutenant Governor, Carnahan endorsed Arkansas Governor, Bill Clinton for president in the Missouri primary.
Governor of Missouri
In 1989, Carnahan announced his intent to run for Governor in 1992. He faced Mayor of St. Louis Vincent C. Schoemehl in the Democratic primary, who referred to him as a "redneck from Rolla". Carnahan won the Democratic nomination by a wide margin, sweeping all but one county. Carnahan faced Republican state Attorney General William L. Webster in the general election. Webster's campaign was hurt by controversy surrounding the state's Second Injury Fund. In the general election, held November 3rd, Carnahan was elected as Governor of Missouri, amidst a strong Democratic performance in the state.
First term (1993-1997)
Carnahan was sworn into office on January 11, 1993. On January 15, 1993, four days after his swearing in, Cole County Circuit Judge Byron Kinder struck down the states method of public school funding. In response to the ruling, Carnahan later signed into law the "Outstanding Schools Act", a bill which created a new method of distributing aid to schools and proposed education reforms. Among the reforms in the bill included smaller classrooms, putting computers in classrooms and supporting vocational programs. The bill raised income and corporate taxes by $310 million.
The tax increases became subject to criticism from U.S. Representative Mel Hancock, who contended the tax increases violated the state's Hancock amendment, of which Hancock was the namesake. Consequently, Hancock was able to put an amendment on the 1994 ballot that would require voter approval to raise taxes. Carnahan opposed the amendment, claiming the amendment would force the state to cut anywhere from $1 billion to $5 billion, affecting schools and state troopers, and campaigned against the amendment. The amendment, which had been opposed by retiring U.S. Senator John Danforth, was defeated by a nearly 40 point margin. In the aftermath, Carnahan worked to convince lawmakers to support an annual cap on tax increases.
Carnahan also had to deal with natural disasters such as the Great Flood of 1993, one of the deadliest floods in U.S. History. Carnahan would travel across the state surveying damage, and also called a special session of the state legislature to figure out how to pay for the damage. As a result of the floods, Carnahan also oversaw the buyout various towns affected, including as the city of Pattonsburg, and the city of Bellefontaine Neighbors. His actions in the crisis earned him praise from other governors, and earned him the position of Vice Chairman of the Democratic Governor's Association. He would eventually rise to the position of chair of the organization and held a spot on the Executive Committee of the National Governor's Association.
Also during his first term, Carnahan oversaw the impeachment of Secretary of State Judith Moriarty, who had backdated election papers for her son. Carnahan appealed to Moriarty to resign, but she refused. Consequently Carnahan called for a special session for her impeachment. Moriarty was impeached and removed from office. Carnahan appointed her replacement, Bekki Cook. In 1995 Carnahan appointed Ronnie L. White to the Missouri Supreme Court, the first black judge to be appointed to the court. White would later become the state's first black chief justice, and eventually, a federal judge.
Second term (1997-2000)
On November 5, 1996, Carnahan defeated Republican State Auditor Margaret B. Kelly to win a second term in office. In 1997, Carnahan passed a cut on the state's grocery tax and on private pensions. Carnahan also made further tax cuts in 1998, increasing tax credits for the elderly and disabled. and in 1999, which included a increase in income tax exemptions for the first time in over 50 years. Also in 1999, Carnahan signed legislation that would give tax credits on prescription drugs to elderly citizens. By the end of 1999, the tax cuts totaled about $1.3 billion. In addition to taxes, Carnahan also signed into law a bill expanding Medicaid coverage for children in poverty, which was estimated to insure over 90,000 children.
In 1998, Carnahan made his second appointment to the Missouri Supreme Court, appointing Michael A. Wolff, a former Attorney General candidate, and legal advisor to Carnahan. He would later serve as chief justice on the court from 2005 to 2007. In 1999, parts of the state were affected by a severe drought, affecting the production of crops such as soybeans. Carnahan declared all 114 counties a disaster area, and sought federal help and assistance to severely affected counties. The drought would not subside until the summer of 2000.
In 1999, Carnahan, a death penalty supporter, commuted the death sentence of a Missouri inmate, Darrell Mease, after Pope John Paul II requested he do so during his visit to St. Louis. This move was controversial, with 34% of voters saying in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch poll that they were more likely to vote against Carnahan in his U.S. Senate bid. That same year, Carnahan opposed a proposition which would have allowed Missourians to carry concealed weapons. The against campaign, which was ran by Carnahan's daughter Robin, won by a 2 point margin, in spite of being vastly outspent. Carnahan had vetoed three abortion bills in 1997, but the issue would resurface again in 1999. That year, the Missouri legislature proposed a bill which banned what was referred to as partial-birth abortions. Carnahan vetoed the bill, due to its language, which he argued went farther than restricting just partial birth abortion, and because the bill lacked exceptions for protecting the mother's health. However, his veto would be overridden by the legislature, making him only the seventh governor since Missouri statehood to have a veto overridden.
Potential U.S. Senate bids
In 1992, supporters of his primary rival Vince Schoemehl encouraged him to run against Senator Kit Bond. In 1994, with Senator John Danforth, retiring, Carnahan was again looked at as a contender, but would decline to run for the open seat that John Ashcroft would ultimately win, opting for re-election. However, Carnahan vowed to campaign vigorously against Ashcroft. In 1998, again against Bond, Carnahan was seen as a potential candidate, and himself said that he was 'very likely' to look at a bid. Again, he declined to run.
2000 U.S. Senate election
On November 4, 1998, Carnahan announced his intention to challenge the incumbent John Ashcroft for his senate seat in 2000. It had long been speculated that neither man particularly liked each other, though both would deny having any rivalry. The campaign became heated and intense, becoming one of the most hotly contested races in the nation. It was a race marked by negative campaigning, with Carnahan being attacked for his actions as governor, and for other incidents, such as photos resurfacing of him performing in blackface in 1960. Carnahan responded by attacking Ashcroft for being out of step with Missourians, while also defending his record as a "moderate, progressive" one. During the campaign, Carnahan made a whistle stop train tour, an homage to Harry S. Truman, who held the Senate seat decades prior. In October, Carnahan had trailed in the polls.
Death and aftermath
Early in the evening of October 16, Carnahan, his son Randy, and his campaign advisor Chris Sifford left from St. Louis, to attend a campaign event in New Madrid. However, the twin-engine Cessna 335 airplane he was flying on, which was piloted by Randy, crashed near Hillsboro, Missouri, killing all three people on board the plane. The NTSB later ruled the crash was due to Randy growing disoriented, and was made worse due to inclement weather and instrument failure.
The presidential debate, held the next day in St. Louis, opened with a moment of silence and both candidates made remarks about Carnahan's death. A memorial service for Carnahan was held in the State Capitol in Jefferson City on October 20. His service was attended by federal and state politicians such as President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, former U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton, and Governor Roger B. Wilson. At the funeral, President Clinton said: "I loved the guy, and anybody who thinks he was dull never looked him straight in the eye, because he had steel and passion and fire, and I think he rather enjoyed being underestimated by the people who disagreed with him."
Lieutenant Governor Roger B. Wilson ascended to the governorship to serve out the balance of Carnahan's term the day following the plane crash. Because Missouri election law would not allow Carnahan's name to be removed from the November 7, 2000, ballot, Governor Wilson promised to appoint his widow Jean to the seat, if it became vacant, as a result of Mel Carnahan's win in the election. Carnahan's campaign continued, using the slogan "I'm Still with Mel." Carnahan became the first person in U.S. history to a win a U.S. Senate election posthumously. His death was thought to have helped other races down-ballot, including that years race for Governor. Jean Carnahan was then appointed to the Senate and served until November 2002, when she was defeated in a special election by Republican Jim Talent.
Awards and recognitions
In 1965, Carnahan received an award from Missouri House Speaker Thomas C. Graham, recognizing him as the chamber's most outstanding Democrat. Also during his tenure as a state legislator, he received the St. Louis Globe-Democrat's Meritorious Service award twice.
The Armory and Reserve Center in Rolla Missouri was renamed in honor of him in 2001, as The Mel Carnahan Armory and Reserve Center. That same year, the U.S. Court House and Custom House in St. Louis was planned to be renamed to the Carnahan Courthouse, though it was not officially called such until 2002. A high school, Carnahan High School of the Future, was named after him in 2003. The garden in the Missouri Capitol was renamed after him, and a bust of him was placed there in 2023.
Personal life
Carnahan married Jean Carpenter in Washington, D.C. on June 12, 1954. They had four children who all became lawyers. Russ Carnahan, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Missouri's 3rd District (2005–2013); Tom Carnahan, founder of Wind Capital Group, which builds wind farms; Robin Carnahan, former Missouri Secretary of State (2005–2013), 2010 U.S. Senate Nominee, and current Administrator of General Services; and Roger "Randy" Carnahan, who piloted the plane and perished in the same crash that killed his father. The family also had a Newfoundland dog named Beaumont. The family was involved with Mel's campaigns, including waiting in line for days before filing opened to ensure Carnahan's name would appear first on the primary ballot for Treasurer in 1980.
Carnahan was noted for having an upright image coupled with a laid back personality, generally being free of scandal, and never smoking or drinking. This lead many supporters to wear straight arrow pins to highlight this. However, he also had a more humorous side, including once granting a pardon to a boy who sought one after lying to his parents. Carnahan and his family were active members of the First Baptist Church of Rolla, where he served as an ordained deacon and he and his wife taught Sunday School. In his spare time, Carnahan was a pilot.
References
External links
National Governors Association
2000 U.S. Senate Campaign Website (Archived)
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1934 births
2000 deaths
20th-century American politicians
Accidental deaths in Missouri
Anacostia High School alumni
Baptists from Missouri
Carnahan family
Democratic Party governors of Missouri
Democratic Party United States senators from Missouri
George Washington University School of Business alumni
Lieutenant Governors of Missouri
Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives
People from Rolla, Missouri
People from Shannon County, Missouri
People from Southeast (Washington, D.C.)
Politicians elected posthumously
State treasurers of Missouri
United States Air Force officers
University of Missouri alumni
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2000