Online NewsHour: Vote 2002 -- Missouri Senate Race

Race: U.S. Senate

U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan
(Democrat)

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Talent
(Republican)

	Official Results: Talent Defeats Carnahan in Close Contest According to official election results posted by the Missouri secretary of state, former U.S. Rep. Jim Talent (R) defeated Sen. Jean Carnahan (D) in the Missouri U.S. Senate race. Talent earned 49.8 percent of the vote to Carnahan's 48.7 percent (12/09) Talent Edges Carnahan in Tight Race Update: Missouri's voters decided Tuesday to send Republican Jim Talent, a former U.S. congressman, back to Washington, ousting incumbent Sen. Jean Carnahan. Talent won by a 22,000-vote margin, capturing 49.8 percent of the vote to Carnahan's 48.6 percent, with 1.6 percent going to third party candidates. (11/06, 2:30 a.m. EST) Student Pollsters In Missouri Take the Pulse of the Electorate NewsHour Extra: Politicians and pundits use political polls to find out what voters are thinking. One group of high school students learned the ins and outs of political polls by surveying voters in their own community. (11/05) Tragedy, Tenacity Color Carnahan - Talent Contest Update:Twin tragedies in the past week have made their mark on the tight Senate race between sitting Missouri Sen. Jean Carnahan and former Rep. Jim Talent, although both candidates are keeping a rigorous campaign schedule with the Nov. 5 election just days away. (11/01) For Carnahan, Talent Bout, Easy Does It Update: The fight over a U.S. Senate seat from Missouri may be one of the most pivotal contests of the political season, although one might not be able to tell at first glance. (9/19) Show Me the Vote KMOS: As election day approaches, take this opportunity to learn more about the candidates for U.S. Senate. Senator Jean Carnahan and Congressman Jim Talent present their views on issues important to Missourians. --from KMOS Warrensburg, Missouri



	Money Matters: How Much Do They Have? A closer look at each campaign's finances as they head into the final weeks of the contest. -- From the Center for Responsive Politics



	State Profile Born amid one of the nation's earliest and bloodiest political battles, Missouri has been plagued by contention and controversy for much of its 181-year existence. From its earliest days, divisions based on geography, economics and race have created a state that's not quite in the North, not quite in the South, and has shifted often in its political trends.

Candidate Profile:
Though Jean Carnahan is a 40-year veteran of the campaign trail, before this year's primaries she had never appeared on a ballot.

She was appointed to fill the seat her late husband, former governor Mel Carnahan, won posthumously after being killed along with the couple's son and a campaign adviser.

Carnahan is one of a handful of senators that pollsters are watching carefully, since her political survival is crucial to a Senate Democratic leadership hanging by a single-vote majority.

more...

Candidate Profile:
Born in 1956 in Des Peres, Missouri to a labor-management lawyer father and a mother who owned her own court reporting business, former Congressman Jim Talent became active in politics while in school at Missouri's Washington University.

In 1984, at the age of 28, Talent made his first run for office -- a successful bid for the Missouri state Senate. Within five years, the then-32-year-old Talent was voted the state Senate minority leader -- a post he held from 1989 to 1993. In 1992, Talent set his sights on Washington, DC -- successfully seeking a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.


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