Jay Nixon

Jay Nixon (2016)

Jeremiah Wilson "Jay" Nixon (born February 13, 1956 in De Soto , Jefferson County , Missouri ) is an American politician of the Democratic Party . He was governor of Missouri from 2009 to 2017 . Prior to that, he was the state's Attorney General since 1993 .

Jay Nixon is not related to former US President Richard Nixon .

Political career

Nixon, who initially worked as a lawyer in his hometown after studying law at the University of Missouri , was first elected to the Missouri Senate for six years in 1986 , where he represented Jefferson County. As early as 1988 he sought for the first office at the federal level, when he tried to oust the incumbent US Senator for Missouri, the Republican John Danforth . Nixon received only 32% of the vote and had to admit defeat to Danforth.

In 1992, Nixon ran for the office of Attorney General of Missouri. The main campaign themes were the fight against crime, the elimination of corruption in government, and consumer and environmental protection. The election campaign between him and his Republican adversary David Steelman was marked in a remarkable way by personal attacks. Nixon won the election on November 3, 1992 with 51% to 45% of the vote and in 1993 took over the office of Attorney General from William L. Webster .

Nixon was re-elected by a large majority in 1996, 2000 and 2004. In between, he made another attempt at a seat in the Senate in 1998, but was defeated by the incumbent Republican Kit Bond . His campaigns in the areas of consumer protection, health care and environmental protection launched in his role as Attorney General made Nixon known beyond the borders of the state.

After the incumbent governor of Missouri, Matt Blunt , surprisingly announced on January 22, 2008 that he was not available for a second term, Nixon ran alongside two other Democrats and five Republican candidates for this office. In the August 5, 2008 primaries, Nixon was nominated for the Democrats and Kenny Hulshof for the Republicans. In the gubernatorial elections on November 4, Nixon clearly prevailed against his opponent with 58% versus 39%.

In the next election on November 6, 2012, Nixon was able to record a majority of the votes with almost 55%, with the Republican candidate Dave Spence receiving almost 43% and Jim Higgins (Libertarian Party) winning almost 3% of the voters. Due to a term limit imposed by the state constitution, he was no longer allowed to run for office in 2016. His term of office therefore ends in January 2017. The Republican Eric Greitens was elected as his successor .

Positions

Jay Nixon is a proponent of the death penalty . If a jury advocates the death penalty, the execution should take place. In 2014 Missouri carried out 10 executions (28 percent of all executions in 2014). 59 people were executed during Nixon's tenure as Attorney General. On March 18, 2015, Cecil Clayton, a seventy-three-year-old man mentally impaired by brain damage at the time of the crime, was executed by lethal injection in Missouri. The European Union had advocated a suspension of the enforcement in this case.

Number of people executed during his tenure as governor per year:

year	2009	2011	2013	2014	2015
number	1	1	2	10	6th

Number of people executed during his tenure as Justice Minister per year:

year	1991	1992	1993	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2005
number	1	1	4th	6th	6th	6th	3	9	5	7th	6th	2	5

Web links

Commons : Jay Nixon  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Nixon in the National Governors Association (English)
• Jay Nixon in the nndb (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Election results in Missouri, 2012 ( Memento of December 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
2. ↑ http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/jay-nixon-s-decision-on-death-penalty-case-out-of/article_78b06360-1d62-5f72-927b-01661d99e111 .html
3. ↑ http://www.initiative-gegen-die-todesstrafe.de/nc/aktuelles/nachrichten/details/article/missouri-gouverneur-stoppt-hinrichtungstermin.html?cHash=34e8028d06&print=1
4. ↑ http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/DE/Infoservice/Presse/Mommunikations/2015/150318_MRHH_Clayton.html

Entry on Ballotpedia about the 2016 term of office