United States Senate special election in Missouri, 2002

Infobox Election
election_name = United States Senate special election in Missouri, 2002
country = Missouri
type = presidential
ongoing = no
election_date = November 5 2002


nominee1 = Jim Talent
party1 = Republican Party (United States)
popular_vote1 = 935,032
percentage1 = 49.80%


nominee2 = Jean Carnahan
party2 = Democratic Party (United States)
popular_vote2 = 913,778
percentage2 = 48.67%
map_

map_size =
map_caption =
title = Senator
before_election = Jean Carnahan
before_party = Democratic Party (United States)
after_election = Jim Talent
after_party = Republican Party (United States)

Overview

In the November 2000 elections, Mel Carnahan, who had died in a plane crash three weeks before, remained on the ballot for election to the Senate. Carnahan received more votes than his Republican opponent, John Ashcroft, who did not legally contest being defeated by a dead candidate. Lieutenant Governor Roger Wilson, as he had promised before the election, appointed Carnahan's widow, Jean, in her husband's place.

The Seventeenth Amendment requires that appointments to the Senate last only until a special election is held. Talent, who received the Republican nomination, narrowly defeated Jean Carnahan in the November 2002 election, 50% to 49%. He was sworn in later that month to fill out the balance of Mel Carnahan's term [ [http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/chronlist.pdf Chronological list of U.S. Senators] ] . [ [http://www.sos.mo.gov/enrweb/raceresults.asp?eid=87&oid=24756&arc=1 Official Election Returns, State of Missouri General Election, November 5, 2002] ]

Jack Abramoff contributed $2,000 to Talent's 2002 senatorial campaign [http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/can_ind/S2MO00353/1/A/] and Preston Gates & Ellis, a former Abramoff employer, had also contributed $1,000 to Talent's campaign. [http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/can_give/S2MO00353] Talent later returned both contributions [http://www.citizensforethics.org/filelibrary/HotlineListofReturnedDonations01.06.06.pdf] .

Talent has been criticized for not returning the money received from Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC), a PAC formed by Tom DeLay. DeLay is facing charges of money laundering and violation of campaign finance laws. A spokesman for Talent has stated that Talent has not yet made a decision about whether or not to return the ARMPAC contribution, stating "Senator Talent is not ready to presume guilt or innocence and wants to give the judicial process a chance to move forward." [ [http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15581098&BRD=1452&PAG=461&dept_id=155076&rfi=6 Sun-News of the Northland - News - Top Stories ] ] During his tenure, Talent served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Special Committee on Aging, Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, and Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Results

References