Carnahan's Widow to 'Enter' Missouri Sen. Race

Oct. 24, 2000 -- If the late Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan receives more votes than incumbent Republican Sen. John Ashcroft on Election Day, his widow will be appointed as senator.

“Should Mel Carnahan receive the largest number of votes in the election,” new Missouri Gov. Roger Wilson announced today, “it is my intention to ask Jean Carnahan if she would fill [the] term.”

Last Monday, the Democratic governor was killed in a plane crash that also claimed the lives of his son, Randy, and political aide Chris Sifford. Mrs. Carnahan has not said publicly whether she would agree to a Senate appointment, but she heightened speculation while delivering Sifford’s eulogy on Sunday, urging mourners: “Don’t let the fire go out.”

Wilson, who served as lieutenant-governor under Carnahan, said this morning that Mrs. Carnahan was the right person to fill her husband’s senate seat if he wins in November.

“They were a team,” he said. “There is really no other person that has been near all of the critical issues as much as she has.”

National Implications

Mel Carnahan was in a tight and bitter race with Ashcroft, a Senate freshman and himself a former governor. Polls showed the two candidates locked in a virtual dead heat all the way up until Carnahan’s death.

Because his death came so close to the Nov. 7 election, Carnahan’s name will remain on the ballot. If he were to outpoll Ashcroft, Wilson would appoint an interim senator who would serve until Missouri’s next general election in November 2002.

“It’s not at all unusual or unprecedented in American politics to have someone who’s died be elected,” says ABCNEWS political director Mark Halperin. “In this case it would have real practical significance, because it could lead to Democrats taking back a Senate seat in their quest to retake control of the Senate overall.”

The Missouri race had long been seen as a key contest in the battle for control of the Senate, where the GOP currently holds a 54-46 advantage. Democrats were hopeful today’s announcement would re-energize Carnahan’s supporters and boost the chances of defeating Ashcroft.

“We would love to see Jean Carnahan pick up the fallen flag here and carry on her husband’s legacy,” Jim Jordan, political director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said today on Political Points, a joint Web cast of ABCNEWS and The New York Times. “She seems to me to be imminently qualified.”

Sen. Tom Daschle, the Democratic Minority Leader, agreed. “Many of us are very, very enthusiastic ... because we think Mrs. Carnahan would do an extraordinary job,” he told reporters. “She’s got the experience. She has been a stalwart defender and supporter of her husband’s positions. I think she would make a remarkable United States senator.”

The promise of Mrs. Carnahan’s entry into the race could also help Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore in his campaign against Republican contender George W. Bush. Missouri is one of a handful of swing states in the presidential election.

‘No Decision Has Been Made’

Jean Carnahan, 66, has never held nor sought public office, though she has campaigned for her husband. She has a degree in business and public administration from George Washington University.

“There’s a long tradition of spouses, usually women, taking over the office from their husbands who die once they’re in office,” adds Halperin. “It’s much more uncommon to be replaced during the election by their spouse to be the stand-in candidate.”

Wilson, who spoke by phone with Mrs. Carnahan this morning, stressed that she had not yet agreed to accept the hypothetical appointment.

“She said she understood why I had to make this announcement, [but] that she was not in a position to make a decision at this time,” said the governor. “No decision has been made.”

Stuart Roy, communications director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said that uncertainty would likely help Ashcroft’s bid for re-election.

“This is certainly going to be difficult, I think, for the Democrats to try to walk voters down this path of asking them to vote for ... the memory of Governor Carnahan in the hopes that [Wilson] will appoint somebody that they would trust,” Roy said on Political Points, “versus voting for John Ashcroft who’s highly popular.”

Ashcroft himself had no immediate reaction to the announcement. The senator immediately ceased campaigning after he got word of the plane crash and said today he did not know when he would return to the campaign trail.

“We haven’t made that judgement yet,” he said, as he performed some volunteer work in the kitchen of a Salvation Army branch in his hometown of Springfield. “We’re going to make decisions about campaigning after we finish these days of community service.”

Three widows of congressmen are currently members of the U.S. House: Mary Bono, R-Calif., Lois Capps, D-Calif., and Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo. All three first won special elections to succeed their husbands, and all three won re-election in 1998.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.