Jean Carnahan
| Jean Carnahan | |
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United States Senator from Missouri |
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In office January 3, 2001 – November 23, 2002 |
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| Appointed by | Roger Wilson |
| Preceded by | John Ashcroft |
| Succeeded by | Jim Talent |
| First Lady of Missouri | |
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In office January 11, 1993 – October 16, 2000 |
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| Governor | Mel Carnahan |
| Preceded by | Janet Ashcroft |
| Succeeded by | Patricia Wilson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Jean Anne Carpenter December 20, 1933 Washington D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Mel Carnahan (1954–2000) |
| Alma mater | George Washington University |
| Religion | Southern Baptist |
Jean Anne Carpenter Carnahan (born December 20, 1933) is an American politician and writer who served as First Lady of Missouri from 1993 to 2000, and as her state's junior U.S. senator from 2001 to 2002. A Democrat, she was appointed to the Senate to fill the seat of her husband, Mel Carnahan, who was posthumously elected to the seat in 2000. She became the first woman to represent Missouri in the Senate.
Born Jean Anne Carpenter in Washington, D.C. to a working-class family, she was determined to go to college. She worked through the year while attending George Washington University. She graduated in 1955 with a degree in Business and Public Administration, the first in her family to graduate from high school and college. She is an alumna of Kappa Delta sorority. She married Mel Carnahan in 1954.
As Mel Carnahan entered politics, Jean Carnahan was his political partner for several decades. Mel Carnahan was elected Governor of Missouri, serving 1993–2000. Mrs. Carnahan was an activist First Lady, an advocate for on-site day care centers for working families, childhood immunization, abuse centers, the arts, and Habitat for Humanity.
In 2000, Governor Mel Carnahan ran for a Senate seat from Missouri against incumbent Republican John Ashcroft. Only three weeks before election day, Carnahan was killed in an airplane crash, along with his son Randy (who piloted the plane) and Chris Sifford, the governor's chief of staff and campaign advisor). Due to the short amount of time before the election, the Missouri election law did not allow Carnahan's name to be removed from the November 2000 ballot. Acting Governor Roger B. Wilson announced that he would appoint Jean Carnahan if her husband were to posthumously win the election.
Out of respect, Ashcroft suspended his campaign during the mourning period for Mel Carnahan. Jean Carnahan did not actively campaign but announced that she intended to accept Wilson's appointment, She filmed one campaign commercial.
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