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Jean Carnahan, who became the first woman to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate in 2001 after her husband’s death, died Tuesday in St. Louis County, Missouri. She was 90 years old.
The family confirmed the death at a hospice, but did not disclose the cause of death.
Ms. Carnahan, the wife of former Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan, was elected from Missouri to the U.S. Senate in December 2000 following Mr. Carnahan’s election just weeks after one of her sons and her longtime companion were killed in a plane crash. was appointed as a member of parliament. Aide. Mr. Carnahan was sworn in on January 3, 2001.
“I know I didn’t come to the United States Senate just like you,” Carnahan said in his remarks to his new Senate colleagues. “I had no long-term personal commitment to the campaign. My name was never on the ballot. There was no victory celebration on election night. I’m here because of the loss. But we’re all here to do the work of this great country.”
Carnahan, a moderate Democrat, had never held public office until she was appointed to replace her husband, a position she held for nearly two years. She ran to retain her seat in the 2002 election, but she lost to Republican Jim Talent by 22,000 votes.
After her loss, Carnahan told the New York Times that despite the turmoil and heartache she had endured, she had always put aside her bitterness. “It’s the acid of life, and it eats away at the soul,” she says.
During his time in the U.S. Senate, Carnahan focused on national security and conditions for military personnel, working to ensure medical benefits for reservists and National Guard members, according to a statement from his family. She was part of the first Congressional delegation to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She also helped introduce legislation requiring companies to promptly electronically report insider trading.
As Missouri’s first lady during her husband’s two terms as Missouri’s governor, Carnahan promoted the creation of on-site childcare centers for working families and supported shelters for victims of domestic violence. He was also an advocate for the elderly and working families, his family said.
She has published several books, including two on Missouri’s historic Governor’s Mansion.
Ms. Carnahan was born Gene Carpenter in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 20, 1933, and grew up in Anacostia, a working-class neighborhood in the city’s southeastern part. Her father, Reginald Carpenter, was a plumber. Her mother, Alvina Carpenter, was a hairdresser.
Her family said she met Carnahan as a teenager in a Sunday night youth group at a Baptist church, and they sat next to each other in class at Anacostia High School. The couple married on June 12, 1954.
The following year, Mr. Carnahan graduated from George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in business and public administration. She and Mr. Carnahan raised four children on a farm outside Rolla, Missouri, a small Ozark community.
She is survived by two sons, Russ and Tom. her daughter Robin; and five grandchildren.
Former Missouri Gov. Roger Wilson, who appointed Carnahan to the Senate, said in a statement Tuesday that Carnahan was his “first and only choice” to take over the seat won by her husband.
Sealag McNeil Contributed to research.
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