Claire McCaskill

Claire Conner McCaskill (/məˈkæskəl/; born July 24, 1953) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019 and as State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007.

Claire McCaskill
United States senator
from Missouri
In office
January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2019
Preceded byJim Talent
Succeeded byJosh Hawley
Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee
In office
January 3, 2017 – January 3, 2019
Preceded byTom Carper
Succeeded byGary Peters
34th Auditor of Missouri
In office
January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2007
GovernorMel Carnahan
Roger Wilson
Bob Holden
Matt Blunt
Preceded byMargaret Kelly
Succeeded bySusan Montee
Prosecutor of Jackson County
In office
1993–1998
Preceded byAlbert Riederer
Succeeded byRobert Beaird
Member of the Missouri House of Representatives
from the 42nd district
In office
January 5, 1983 – February 2, 1988
Preceded byJames Barnes
Succeeded byJoseph Kenton
Personal details
Born
Claire Conner McCaskill

(1953-07-24) July 24, 1953
Rolla, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
David Exposito
​
(
m. 1984; div. 1995)

Joseph Shepard
(
m. 2002)
Children3
EducationUniversity of Missouri (BA, JD)

McCaskill is a native of Rolla, Missouri. She graduated from the University of Missouri and the University of Missouri School of Law. A member of the Democratic Party, McCaskill served as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives from 1983 to 1989, as Jackson County Prosecutor from 1993 to 1998, and as the 34th State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007. She ran for Governor of Missouri in the 2004 election, defeating Democratic incumbent Bob Holden in the Democratic primary and losing to Republican Matt Blunt in a close general election.

McCaskill was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006. She was the second female U.S. Senator from Missouri and the first female candidate to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri (Jean Carnahan was appointed upon the death of her husband). Re-elected in 2012, McCaskill was defeated in 2018 by Republican challenger Josh Hawley.[1] As of February 2019, McCaskill is a political analyst for MSNBC and NBC and a visiting fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.[2]

Early life, education and early law career

McCaskill was born in Rolla, Missouri. Her father, William Young McCaskill (1925–1993), served as a state Insurance Commissioner during the administration of Governor Warren E. Hearnes.[3] Her mother, Betty Anne (née Ward; 1928–2012), was the first woman elected to the City Council of Columbia, Missouri. Betty Anne McCaskill lost a race for a seat in the state House of Representatives to Leroy Blunt, the father of U.S. Senator Roy Blunt and grandfather of former Missouri Governor Matt Blunt.

McCaskill spent her early childhood in the small Missouri town of Houston, later moving to Lebanon, and eventually Columbia. She attended David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, where she was a cheerleader, Pep Club president, a member of the debate club, a musical cast member, and homecoming queen.[4] While attending the University of Missouri, McCaskill joined Kappa Alpha Theta sorority,[5] graduating in 1975 with a B.A. in political science. She received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Missouri School of Law in 1978. In the summer of 1974, before graduating from the University of Missouri, McCaskill studied at the Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems at Georgetown University.[6]

From the time she graduated law school in 1978 until her exit from the U.S. Senate in January 2019, McCaskill spent all but three years of her professional career in the public sector. The exception is the three years she spent in private practice as an attorney in a Kansas City law firm (1989 to 1991). Following her graduation from law school, she spent one year as a law clerk on the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District, which sits in Kansas City. Thereafter, McCaskill joined the Jackson County prosecutor's office, where she specialized in arson cases.[7]

Early political career

State legislature

In 1982, McCaskill was elected to represent the Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City in the Missouri House of Representatives. She left the State House and contemplated running for Jackson County Prosecutor in 1988, but did not pursue the position when her mentor,[8] fellow Democrat and incumbent Prosecutor Albert Riederer decided to seek another term.[9]

County politics

In 1990, McCaskill was elected to the Jackson County Legislature (the equivalent of a county commission or county council).

In February 1991, she testified in favor of a Missouri Senate bill that would prohibit a man accused of raping his wife from using marriage as a defense.[10] "This is simply an issue of fundamental justice. It's embarrassing that we live in a state where it's okay to rape your wife," McCaskill said.[10]

In December 1991, McCaskill announced her intention to run for county prosecutor.[11] At the time of the announcement, Riederer had not announced whether he was going to seek reelection.[11] McCaskill said that crime had "run amok" during Riederer's eleven years as county prosecutor.[11] McCaskill won the Democratic primary,[12] and she went on to win the 1992 general election with 53 percent of the vote.[13] McCaskill was the first woman to serve as prosecutor for Jackson County. She was reelected in 1996 with 71 percent of the vote.[14]

State Auditor
Results of the 2002 Missouri Auditor General election

In 1998, McCaskill was elected as State Auditor[15] with 50.3 percent of the vote in the general election.[16] She was the second female to hold the post, the first having been her immediate predecessor, Margaret B. Kelly.

When McCaskill ran for reelection in 2002, the winner of the Republican Party primary was Al Hanson, who had previously been incarcerated for fraud.[17] Hanson said he was qualified to detect fraud because he had committed fraud himself.[18] Because of Hanson's history, the leader of the Missouri Republican Party urged voters not to vote for Hanson in the general election.[17] McCaskill was reelected with 60 percent of the vote.[19]

2004 gubernatorial campaign

On August 3, 2004, McCaskill defeated incumbent Governor Bob Holden in the Democratic primary, becoming the first candidate to defeat an incumbent Governor in a primary election in state history.[20]

On November 2, 2004, McCaskill lost to her Republican opponent, then-Secretary of State Matt Blunt in the general election by a margin of 51% to 48%. McCaskill's loss to Blunt was the first defeat in her twenty-year political career.[21]

U.S. Senate
McCaskill speaks during the first night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado

Elections

2006
Main article: 2006 United States Senate election in Missouri

Both incumbent Jim Talent and McCaskill easily defeated their opponents in their respective primaries on August 8, 2006.[22] McCaskill and Talent debated each other on Meet the Press on October 8, 2006.[23] On November 8, 2006, McCaskill defeated Talent by a margin of 49.6% to 47.3% with two minor-party candidates taking the remainder.[22]

2012
Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Missouri

McCaskill ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and faced Republican nominee Todd Akin in the general election. Until mid-August, polling showed them running neck and neck. Then, in a television interview on August 12, Akin claimed that women who were the victims of what he described as "legitimate rape" rarely ended up pregnant. His comments caused controversy and he was criticized by members of both parties. He faced calls to withdraw from the race but did not do so, and McCaskill opened up an increasing lead in opinion polls. Akin's comments caused a backlash among voters, particularly women,[24] and McCaskill was re-elected with 54.7% of the vote to his 39.2%.

In August 2015, McCaskill penned a Politico article describing how she indirectly helped Akin—who she believed would make a weak general election candidate—win the Republican primary.[25] Specifically, her campaign ran ads during primary season criticizing Akin as being too conservative; McCaskill did this to encourage conservatives (via reverse psychology) to vote for Akin.[26] Washington Post contributor Jonathan Adler and others[27] questioned whether McCaskill's indirect coordination with the Akin campaign constituted an unreported and in-kind contribution to Akin's campaign in violation of federal election law.[28]

2018
Main article: 2018 United States Senate election in Missouri

McCaskill announced she was running for her third term.[29] As of January 2018, six declared Democratic opponents, and five Republicans, including poll leader state Attorney General Josh Hawley, were declared candidates for the GOP primary.[30] On July 27, The Daily Beast reported that Microsoft had discovered that in September 2017, GRU "Fancy Bear" hackers had attempted spoofing hacks of her staff aides' email in an attempt to target her candidacy efforts, on behalf of the Russian state.[31] Less than three weeks before the November general election, conservative group Project Veritas released secretly recorded video footage of statements by McCaskill and her campaign staff that appeared to differ from their public stances on several issues. In response, McCaskill said she has been "very upfront about all my positions", and called on Republican opponent Hawley to launch an investigation into whether state laws were violated in capturing and publishing the footage.[32][33] On election day, Hawley received 51.5% of the vote, to McCaskill's 45.5%.[34]

Tenure

McCaskill was the first elected woman to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate.[35] Jean Carnahan was appointed to the Senate following her husband's death and posthumous election, but was defeated in a close election by Jim Talent.[36][37] In 2006, McCaskill defeated Talent for a full term. In 2011, she became Missouri's senior Senator when Roy Blunt took office as the junior Senator.

Political positions
McCaskill speaks in Columbia, Missouri, in March 2014

Through 2012, McCaskill was named by the National Journal as one of the ten most "moderate" Senators.[38] In 2011, she was ranked 50th on its scale of the 100 senators, from most liberal to most conservative.[39] In 2013, the National Journal rated McCaskill's voting record as 53% liberal and 47% conservative.[40] The Washington Post reported in 2012 that she was the second-most-likely Democratic Senator to vote against her party.[38] The conservative Americans for Prosperity gave her a 30% score for being in line with their positions in 2016.[40] The progressive Americans for Democratic Action gave her a 65% liberal quotient in 2015.[40] As of 2018, Five ThirtyEight, which tracks Congressional votes, found that McCaskill voted with President Trump's position 45% of the time.[41][42]

McCaskill speaking during a Senate hearing, January 12, 2007

2008 presidential election

In January 2008, McCaskill endorsed then-Senator Barack Obama in his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president, making her one of the first Senators to do so. She was one of the most visible faces for his campaign,[43] and her support was crucial to Obama's narrow victory in the Missouri primary in February 2008. She has credited her daughter Maddie as having persuaded her to publicly endorse Obama.[44] She was frequently mentioned as a possible vice-presidential nominee for Obama, but was never seriously considered. She spoke on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention in August 2008.[45]

2016 presidential election

In 2013, McCaskill announced that she would be supporting Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.[46] During the primaries, McCaskill was among Clinton's top surrogates. She described Bernie Sanders as "too liberal" and "extreme" and saying that the enthusiasm of his supporters was no more impressive than that of Ron Paul's supporters in 2012.[47] On March 21, after Clinton's sweep of Southern primaries, McCaskill called for Sanders to throw his support to Clinton.[48]

Economic issues

In 2013, the National Journal gave her a 46% score on "Liberal on Economic Policy" and a 53% score on "Conservative on Economic Policy." In 2016, FreedomWorks and the Club for Growth, both of which support lower taxes, gave her ratings of 10% and 15%, respectively.[49]

In November 2017, President Trump visited Missouri to promote his tax bill and said that if McCaskill didn't support his tax plan, she should be voted out of office. She said that she could support a tax bill put together "in a bipartisan way" and that she would support "doubling the standard deduction," "enhancing the child tax credit," and even "some corporate tax relief as long as we were cleaning up some of the loopholes that allow so many corporations to avoid paying their fair share." But she did not support Trump's tax bill, which in Missouri, she said, would mainly help rich St. Louis suburbanites.[50]

Ahead of an August 7, 2018, Missouri vote on Proposition A on adopting a right-to-work law in Missouri, McCaskill endorsed a "no" vote on the proposition.[51]

Immigration

In 2010, McCaskill voted for the DREAM Act, which would have given undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children a pathway to citizenship provided that they fulfilled certain conditions.[52]

In January 2018, McCaskill and three other Democratic senators were cosponsors of the Border and Port Security Act, legislation that would mandate that US Customs and Border Protection "hire, train and assign at least 500 officers per year until the number of needed positions the model identifies is filled" in addition to requiring the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection to determine potential equipment and infrastructure improvements that could be used for ports of entry.[53]

McCaskill has said that "protecting the DREAMers has to be a very top priority."[50] McCaskill opposed the Trump administration's policy of separating immigrant families who illegally crossed the border,[54] and supported legislation to end the family separation policy.[55]

Government spending

She co-sponsored the Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act, which sought to improve the processes related to the use of credit cards by government employees.[56]

Armed services

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCaskill has called for nuclear weapons modernization.[57] In June 2017, she voted to support Trump's $350 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia.[58]

On January 14, 2014, she introduced the Victims Protection Act of 2014 (S. 1917; 113th Congress), which seeks to help victims of sexual assault in the military.[59] This bill was a watered down version of a similar sexual assault bill previously introduced by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The latter proposal would have streamlined the prosecution process by removing it from the military chain of command.[60] McCaskills' bill allows victims to give a preference as to whether they would prefer their cases to be tried in the military or in the civilian justice system.[59] The bill passed the Senate on March 10, 2014 by a vote of 97–0.[61]

Disaster recovery

As a member of the Senate ad hoc subcommittee on disaster recovery, McCaskill criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency's handling of Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.[62]

Health care

In 2017, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund gave her a 100% lifetime rating for her positions on health care. In 2016, the American Public Health Association also gave her a 100% rating for the positions she had taken on health-care issues during the previous year.[49]

McCaskill voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as ObamaCare, in December 2009.[63]

In April 2017, McCaskill expressed her opposition to a single-payer healthcare system, saying it is too expensive and not realistic.[64][65]

In August 2017, she introduced the Health Care Options for All Act,[66] whereby people living in counties with no health-care exchanges "would be able to buy coverage through the D.C. small business exchange, called SHOP," with the U.S. government "contribut[ing] toward the cost of premiums if they meet a certain income threshold."[67] Criticizing Trump's health-care bill in September 2017, she called it "a bait-and-switch, in which they're trying to buy off certain states with promises of more money now, but with no guarantee that healthcare dollars in our state won't ultimately go down." She added that the bill would not help "folks in Missouri who've been sick before and have a pre-existing condition, and older Missourians."[68]

At each event during her 2018 re-election bid campaign, McCaskill asked attendees with preexisting conditions to stand up, and vowed to keep in place health insurance protections for such individuals.[69][70]

Gun law

McCaskill has an "F" rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA) for its belief that she does not support Second Amendment rights and opposes all right-to-carry legislation.[71]

She has voted for expanded background checks and co-sponsored the Feinstein Amendment, which if passed, would have made it illegal for individuals on the terror watchlist to purchase guns.[72] In January 2016, McCaskill was one of eighteen senators to sign a letter to Thad Cochran and Barbara Mikulski requesting that the Labor, Health and Education subcommittee hold a hearing on whether to allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to fund a study of gun violence and "the annual appropriations rider that some have interpreted as preventing it" with taxpayer dollars. The senators noted their support for taking steps "to fund gun-violence research, because only the United States government is in a position to establish an integrated public-health research agenda to understand the causes of gun violence and identify the most effective strategies for prevention."[73] In June 2016, McCaskill participated in the Chris Murphy gun control filibuster and in a sit-in on the House floor urging votes for gun control.[72][74]

In response to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, McCaskill co-sponsored a bill to ban bump stocks.[75]

Terrorism

During a 2013 congressional hearing, McCaskill asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano: "based on the evidence at this point, is there any difference between Sandy Hook and Boston other than the choice of weapon?" McCaskill then urged Napolitano "to reevaluate when and how the federal government defines a criminal act as terrorism".[76]

Facebook posting by Maria Chappelle-Nadal

In August 2017, Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D-University City) wrote on Facebook: "I hope Trump is assassinated!" McCaskill condemned the posting: "I condemn it. It's outrageous. And she should resign."[77]

#MeToo

In October 2017, in the midst of a flurry of news reports about sexual assaults by politicians and other celebrities, McCaskill said on Meet the Press that while serving in the state legislature, she had asked the House Speaker, Bob F. Griffin, to discuss a bill she was sponsoring. "And I explained to him the bill I had, and did he have any advice for me on how I could get it out of committee?" McCaskill said. "And he looked at me, and he paused, and he said, 'Well, did you bring your knee pads?'"[78]

Comments on men

In November 2015, in a video for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, McCaskill encouraged men to "'sometimes just shut the hell up.'" McCaskill added, "'It's not that women don't value your thoughts, it's just that we don't value all of them.'" She then set forth a variety of topics about which "'women no longer need to hear men's opinions.'" Regarding the topic of "'what women do with their bodies,'" McCaskill advised men to "'hush.'"[79][80][81] McCaskill described the video as a joke.[82]

Same-sex marriage

On March 24, 2013, McCaskill posted to Tumblr in support of same-sex marriage: "While churches should never be required to conduct marriages outside of their religious beliefs, neither should the government tell people who they have a right to marry."[83]

Net neutrality

In January 2018, McCaskill announced her support for a Senate bill intended to reverse the Federal Communications Commission's repeal of net neutrality; as she was the 30th Senator to support the bill, it was ensured that the bill would reach the floor of the Senate.[84] In October 2017, McCaskill was one of four Democrats who voted to confirm FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai,[85] who announced the plan to reverse net neutrality rules earlier that year.[86] In explaining her vote, McCaskill said that she disagreed with Pai on net neutrality but voted for Pai because "the president has a right to the chairman because he won the election".[87] According to Ars Technica, "it's common for [FCC] commissioners to get broad bi-partisan support in the Senate even if their policies are opposed by one of the two major parties."[87]

Trade

McCaskill opposed Trump's trade tariffs, saying they were "hurting Missouri farmers and manufacturing."[88]

Israel Anti-Boycott Act

In June 2017, McCaskill co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, Senate Bill 720, which made it a federal crime, punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment,[89] for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if protesting actions by the Israeli government.[90]

Voting rights

In July 2018, McCaskill introduced legislation that would make it illegal to knowingly and intentionally spread false information about an election, such as false information about the time and place of voting, voter qualifications and registration status.[91] She said, "Misinformation campaigns intended only to suppress the vote and disenfranchise Missourians are crimes that run counter to our democratic values."[91]

Committee assignments

McCaskill also served as the Chairwoman of the Select Committee for the Impeachment of Samuel B. Kent, which was disbanded July 22, 2009, after Judge Kent resigned,[94] and the United States Senate Homeland Security Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, which was disbanded in 2013.[95]

Controversies

Private airplane

On March 16, 2011, McCaskill told reporters that she was "embarrassed" about revelations that her office had used taxpayer money for the senator's use of a private airplane she co-owned with her husband and friends. According to a government audit, the plane was used for 90 flights taken between Washington, D.C., and her home in suburban St. Louis, as well as to numerous sites around the state of Missouri. According to McCaskill's Senate office, all but 1 of the 90 flights in question were within Senate rules. As soon as the story broke, McCaskill sent a check for $88,000 to the U.S. Treasury as reimbursement for the flights.[96]

The Missouri Republican Party filed a formal complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee on March 16. In response McCaskill said, "The Missouri Republican Party is going to try to ride this horse as long as they can. They're going to try to make this as big a deal as they can. Them filing the ethics complaint is about as surprising as the sun coming up."[97] On March 21, 2011, Politico reported that McCaskill and her husband had failed to pay more than $280,000 in property taxes on the plane and was planning to sell it. "I have convinced my husband to sell the damn plane", McCaskill said on a conference call with reporters. "I will never set foot on the plane again".[97] The Senate Ethics Committee dismissed the Missouri Republican Party's complaint.[98]

The plane, a 2001 Pilatus PC-12, was sold in October 2011.[99] It was stored at Spirit of St. Louis Airport, McCaskill confirmed, and owned by Timesaver LLC, a Delaware-based limited liability company. McCaskill noted that she had paid $38,800 in sales taxes on the plane, and she had only recently (as of March 2011) become aware that Missouri also imposed a property tax on private aircraft. She said she was "disappointed" in herself for not ensuring that Timesaver LLC paid the property taxes. "Frankly, having the plane owned in Delaware would not negate the necessity of paying the personal property tax in Missouri," she said. "This is a mistake. It should have been reported in Missouri. It was owed in Missouri. It will be paid in Missouri today".[97]

Meetings with Russian government officials

On March 2, 2017, McCaskill tweeted that she had had "No call or meeting w/Russian ambassador. Ever".[100] After her own tweets of January 20, 2013 ("Off to meeting w/Russian Ambassador.") and August 6, 2015 ("Today calls with British, Russian, and German Ambassadors") were exposed, McCaskill recanted her tweet of March 2, blaming Twitter's character limit.[100] McCaskill had been a leading critic of Attorney General Jeff Sessions's meetings with Russian government officials in his capacity as United States senator and had called for Sessions's resignation on this account. McCaskill also said that the nature of her meetings with the Russian ambassador were different to his.[100] PolitiFact rated McCaskill's assertion false, and also noted "though the context for McCaskill's and Sessions' interactions with Kislyak may be very different, she goes too far in saying she didn't "ever" have that meeting or phone call."[100]

Iowa caucus Twitter photo

McCaskill faced criticism for her Twitter comments about a photo of Trump supporters on a plane following the 2020 Iowa caucuses in which she referred to HUD Secretary Ben Carson, thought to be the only person of color depicted in the photo, as a "thing" while also noting that she considered him out of place. Many condemned the tweet as racially charged.[101][102]

Electoral history

State Auditor
Missouri State Auditor Democratic Primary, 1998
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Claire McCaskill 151,595 51.0%
Democratic Stephen J. Conway 114,997 38.7% −12.3
Democratic Timothy Marshall Walters 30,888 10.4% −40.6
Missouri State Auditor election, 1998
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Claire McCaskill 780,178 50.3%
Republican Charles (Chuck) A. Pierce 719,653 46.4% −3.9%
Libertarian Gerald R. Geier 26,955 1.7% −48.6
Reform George D. Weber 24,188 1.6% −48.7
Missouri State Auditor election, 2002
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Claire McCaskill (incumbent) 1,090,593 60.0%
Republican Al Hanson 664,982 36.6% −23.4
Libertarian Arnold J. Trembley 39,891 2.2% −57.8
Green Fred Kennell 23,521 1.3% −58.7
American Independent Theo (Ted) Brown, Sr. 54 0.0% −60

Governor
Missouri gubernatorial Democratic primary election, 2004
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Claire McCaskill 437,780 51.6%
Democratic Bob Holden (incumbent) 383,734 45.3% −6.3
Democratic Jim LePage 16,761 2.0% −49.6
Democratic Jeffery A. Emrick 9,473 1.1% −50.5
Missouri gubernatorial election, 2004
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Matt Blunt 1,382,419 50.8%
Democratic Claire McCaskill 1,301,442 47.9% −2.9
Libertarian John M. Swenson 24,378 0.9% −49.9
Constitution Robert Wells 11,299 0.4% −50.4
Nonpartisan Kenneth J. Johnson 61 0% −50.8

U.S. Senator
Missouri United States Senate Democratic primary election, 2006
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Claire McCaskill 282,767 80.8
Democratic Bill Clinton Young 67,173 19.2 −61.6
2006 United States Senate election in Missouri
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Claire McCaskill 1,055,255 49.6 +0.9
Republican Jim Talent (Incumbent) 1,006,941 47.3 −2.3
Missouri United States Senate Election, 2012[103]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Claire McCaskill (Incumbent) 1,484,683 54.7% +5.1
Republican Todd Akin 1,063,698 39.2% -15.5
Libertarian Jonathan Dine 164,991 6.1% -45.1
Missouri United States Senate Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Claire McCaskill (Incumbent) 1,101,377 45.5% -9.2%
Republican Josh Hawley 1,245,732 51.5% +12.3%
Libertarian Japheth Campbell 27,413 1.1% -5%

Personal life

McCaskill was married to David Exposito, with whom she had three children. The couple divorced in 1995, after 11 years of marriage, while McCaskill was Jackson County Prosecutor. David Exposito was found murdered in Kansas City, Kansas on December 12, 2005.[104] Exposito's murder has never been solved.[105]

McCaskill married Joseph Shepard in 2002.[106]

On the October 3, 2009 episode of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! on National Public Radio, McCaskill spoke about a vacation early in her career as a lawyer, where she was a contestant on High Rollers. McCaskill reigned as champion for four days, and later sold several of her prizes to pay off her student loan debt.[107]

McCaskill's mother, Betty Anne McCaskill, died on October 29, 2012, from natural causes at the age of 84.[108] A convert to Roman Catholicism, McCaskill was denied communion for her pro-choice stance on abortion by then-Bishop Raymond Burke, later Cardinal Raymond Burke.[109]

McCaskill maintains residences in Washington, D.C. and Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis.[110] She joined Sheryl Sandberg's movement to encourage young women to be more assertive in professional interactions.[111] On February 22, 2016, McCaskill announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She stated through Tumblr, "It's a little scary, but my prognosis is good and I expect a full recovery."[112]

On January 15, 2019, McCaskill joined NBC News and MSNBC as a political analyst.[113]

Honors

Scholastic
University degrees
Location Date School Degree
 Missouri1975University of MissouriBachelor of Arts (BA) in Political science
 Missouri1978University of Missouri School of LawJuris Doctor (JD)


Chancellor, visitor, governor, rector and fellowships
Location Date School Position
 Illinois2019 – PresentUniversity of Chicago Institute of PoliticsFellow [114] [115]
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Honorary degrees
Location Date School Degree Status
 Missouri2009William Woods UniversityDoctorate [116]Gave commencement address
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Memberships and non-scholastic fellowships
Country Date Organization Position
 Missouri1978 – PresentThe Missouri BarMember
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
gollark: I'm not sure if this has much of an actual application, but it's neat. You can do similar stuff with zips to make self-extracting archives.
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gollark: That's what python is doing, yes.
gollark: It's a combination of somewhat weird things.
gollark: I picked that image because it's small and I happened to have it around.

See also

References
  1. Robillard, Kevin (November 6, 2018). "Josh Hawley Tops Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill In Missouri". HuffPost – via Yahoo.
  2. "Current Pritzker Fellows". University of Chicago Institute of Politics. February 7, 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Schwab, Nikki. "Throwback Thursday: Claire McCaskill as Homecoming Queen". US News. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  5. "Notable Thetas". Kappa Alpha Theta. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  6. "Alumni Attend Both National Conventions". The Fund for American Studies. September 1, 2008. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  7. Pope, LeRoy (January 4, 1983). "Arson 'barometer of an ailing economy'". UPI NewsTrack.
  8. "Former Jackson County prosecutor Albert Riederer dies from cancer". KCTV. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  9. Claire McCaskill; Terry Ganey (August 23, 2016). Plenty Ladylike: A Memoir. Simon and Schuster. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-4767-5677-6.
  10. "Marriage no defense for rape, panel decides". Associated Press. The Kansas City Star. February 14, 1991. p. C3.
  11. Lambe, Joe. "McCaskill goal: Prosecutor County legislator, an ex-assistant to Riederer, wants to lead crime fight". The Kansas City Star. December 19, 1991.
  12. Mannies, Jo. "Women May Have Set Missouri Record". St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 6, 1992.
  13. Lambe, Joe. "Jackson County voters pick McCaskill for prosecutor job". The Kansas City Star. November 4, 1992. p. C1.
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Political offices
Preceded by
Margret Kelly		 Auditor of Missouri
1999–2007		 Succeeded by
Susan Montee
Party political offices
Preceded by
Bob Holden		 Democratic nominee for Governor of Missouri
2004		 Succeeded by
Jay Nixon
Preceded by
Jean Carnahan		 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Missouri
(Class 1)
2006, 2012, 2018		 Most recent
U.S. Senate
Preceded by
Jim Talent		 U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Missouri
2007–2019
Served alongside: Kit Bond, Roy Blunt		 Succeeded by
Josh Hawley
Preceded by
Susan Collins		 Ranking Member of the Senate Aging Committee
2015–2017		 Succeeded by
Bob Casey
Preceded by
Tom Carper		 Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee
2017–2019		 Succeeded by
Gary Peters
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