Claire McCaskill

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Claire McCaskill

Claire McCaskill (born July 24, 1953 in Rolla , Missouri ) is an American politician ( Democratic Party ). From 1999 to 2006, she was the State Auditor for the State of Missouri. She was a member of the United States Senate since 2007 . After her defeat in the 2018 election, she left the Senate in January 2019.

Family, education and work

Claire McCaskill grew up in the state of Missouri, first near the city of Houston , later in Lebanon and finally in Columbia . She attended David H. Hickman High School in Columbia. Her father, William, was an insurance supervisor. Her mother, Betty Anne, was the first woman to be elected to the Columbia City Council and ran in the US House of Representatives elections.

In 1975 graduated Claire McCaskill, a study of political science and in 1978 a degree in Law at the University of Missouri-Columbia from.

In addition to three years as an attorney in a law firm specializing in criminal matters in Kansas City (1989–1991), she has worked in the civil service since 1979 . In 1979 she served as a clerk in a Kansas City-based appellate court serving western Missouris. She then moved to the Jackson County Attorney's Office , where she specialized in arson cases .

Political career

Beginnings

In 1982 McCaskill was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives. She was elected to the Jackson County Legislature in 1990 and Jackson County Attorney in 1992. There she was the first female public prosecutor. In 1996 she was re-elected. 1998 McCaskill was the successor of Margaret B. Kelly to state Auditor ( State Auditor selected) from Missouri.

2004 gubernatorial election

On August 3, 2004 McCaskill won the Democratic primary against then Governor Bob Holden , but then lost the actual election on November 2, 2004 against the Secretary of State of Missouri, Matt Blunt , with 47.9% against 50.8% . This defeat was the first in her 20-year political career.

Member of the US Senate since 2007

In August 2005 she announced that she would run against the Republican mandate holder Jim Talent in the 2006 Senate election. She won the majority in the Democratic primary election on August 8, 2006. In her election campaign, in addition to internal security, she primarily focused on social and health issues. A TV commercial by actor Michael J. Fox , in which he supported McCaskill for her advocacy of stem cell research , caused a sensation . On November 7, 2006, she was elected Senator in a highly regarded head-to-head race. It won many urban populations in St. Louis and Kansas City while its rural competitor was ahead.

McCaskill, who has become a close advisor to President Obama, ran for re-election in 2012 and was considered endangered in Missouri, which is increasingly electing Republican. McCaskill saw Todd Akin as their opponent of choice and supported him in various ways in the Republican primary, in which he finally prevailed. In the main election campaign, Akin's statement that the female body prevents pregnancy after “legitimate rape” became a national scandal. As a result, McCaskill had little problem in mobilizing women voters in particular. In urban areas, when voters queued for up to three hours, McCaskill supporters encouraged them to hold out with hot chocolate. McCaskill won with 52 to 41 percent of the vote.

Before the 2018 Senate election , McCaskill was again considered to be at risk after the state voted for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump by a clear majority in 2016 . In early July 2017, Republican Congresswoman Ann Wagner decided not to run for the Senate. In contrast, the previous Attorney General Josh Hawley announced in October 2017 that he was running for McCaskill's seat. Polls spoke in favor of a close election result between McCaskill and Hawley, which is why most political observers considered the decision to be completely open. McCaskill lost to Hawley with 45.5 to 51.5 percent of the vote and left the Senate on January 3, 2019.

In August 2017, hackers from the Russian secret service GRU tried unsuccessfully to compromise McCaskill's campaign team. It is the first known influence of Russia in the US election campaign in 2018 after the hacker attacks in 2016 .

Private

McCaskill is a second marriage to St. Louis businessman Joseph Shepard. She has four stepchildren with him. He loaned her $ 1.6 million in 2004 for the governor's election campaign. Because he also has business interests in retirement and nursing homes, which are controlled by the state of Missouri, McCaskill was accused of mixing the private and political in the election campaign.

She was previously married to David Exposito. With him she had two daughters and a son. In 1995 the couple divorced. Exposito died in 2005.

Web links

Commons : Claire McCaskill  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Claire McCaskill: How I Helped Todd Akin Win - So I Could Beat Him Later. In: Politico , September 2017.
  2. ^ GOP's Akin, Mourdock loose Senate elections. In: The Washington Post , November 7, 2012.
  3. ↑ Romney, McCaskill, Nixon win in Missouri. In: United Press International , November 6, 2012.
  4. ↑ David M. Drucker: Top GOP Senate recruit Ann Wagner won't challenge Claire McCaskill. In: The Washington Examiner , July 3, 2017.
  5. ^ Bryan Lowry: Josh Hawley, with praise from Breitbart, challenging McCaskill for US Senate seat. In: Kansas City , October 10, 2017.
  6. ↑ Jennifer E. Duffy: Senate: Rating Changes in Five Races. In: Cook Political Report , August 17, 2017; 2018 Crystal Ball Senate race ratings map. In: Sabato's Crystal Ball , University of Virginia ; Kevin McDermott: Poll shows slight McCaskill lead over Hawley; Greitens tanking. In: St Louis Today , May 14, 2018.
  7. ^ Missouri US Senate Election Results. In: The New York Times , November 7, 2018.
  8. ↑ Andrew Desiderio, Kevin Poulsen: Russian Hackers' New Target: A Vulnerable Democratic Senator. In: The Daily Beast , July 26, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME McCaskill, Claire
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH July 24, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Rolla , Missouri