Robin Carnahan

Robin Carnahan
38th Secretary of State of Missouri
In office
January 10, 2005 – January 14, 2013
Governor Matt Blunt
Jay Nixon
Preceded by Matt Blunt
Succeeded by Jason Kander
Personal details
Born (1961-08-04) August 4, 1961
Rolla, Missouri, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Juan Carlos Antolinez
Alma mater William Jewell College
University of Virginia
Religion Baptist
Carnahan with Barack Obama at the Folly Theater in Kansas City on July 8, 2010

Robin Carnahan (born August 4, 1961) is an American businesswoman and lawyer and former Missouri Secretary of State. She is the daughter of Missouri politicians Mel and Jean Carnahan. In 2010 she was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate to replace retiring Republican Senator Kit Bond. She was then a Senior Advisor at the global strategy firm Albright Stonebridge Group where she advised companies on strategic investment and growth opportunities. Additionally, she serves as an advisor to a number of civic technology companies including LaunchCode and frequently speaks on issues relating to government innovation through smarter use of technology. In 2013, Carnahan was named a Fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. In February 2016, she joined the General Services Administration as the Director of the State and Local practice at 18F.[1]

Early life, education and career

Robin Carnahan grew up near Rolla, Missouri, the only daughter in a family of 4 children. She attended Rolla High School and graduated, magna cum laude, from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, with a bachelor's degree in Economics.

Carnahan received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1986 from the University of Virginia School of Law where she served as Executive Editor of the Virginia Journal of International Law. Following graduation, she returned to Missouri to practice business and corporate law with the St. Louis firm of Thompson & Mitchell.

In 1990, Carnahan went to work in central Europe as part of a team from the National Democratic Institute. In this role, she helped draft voting laws, train new political leaders and monitor elections in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Since then, she has led international election observer delegations and promoted democracy in a dozen countries and currently serves on NDI's Board of Directors.[2] During the Clinton Administration, Carnahan served as special assistant to the chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States working on programs to help US companies increase exports of US goods and services.[3] Later Carnahan founded and managed an international trade and business consulting firm to advise public and privately held US companies expanding into global markets.

Today, Carnahan also manages her family's farm and Angus cattle operation outside of Rolla, Missouri.

Missouri Secretary of State

On November 2, 2004, Carnahan was elected as Missouri's 38th Secretary of State. In her first bid for elected office, she defeated then-Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives Catherine Hanaway (R) by over 120,000 votes.[4] In November 2008, Carnahan was reelected with nearly 62% of the vote by receiving over 1.7 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in Missouri history. In 2005 she was named one of 24 "rising stars" in American politics by the Aspen Institute's Rodel Foundation, a leading nonpartisan think tank.

As CEO of a $50mm government agency, Carnahan emerged as a national leader in pioneering the use of innovative technology to save money and improve government service delivery for businesses and citizens. To reduce red-tape and costs for businesses, she worked closely with business leaders to identify service improvements, increase online business filings by more than 80%, streamline regulations and reduce filing fees by over $19 million.[5] As the state's securities regulator during the 2008 financial crisis, Carnahan gained national recognition for negotiating record settlements on behalf of investors in a number of high-profile cases, including a national settlement in August 2008 in which Wachovia Securities agreed to repay over 40,000 investors who had nearly $9 billion frozen in auction-rate securities accounts.[6][7]

Carnahan also worked to increase open access to public documents and data by expanding online availability of information through the Missouri State Archives and Missouri State Library. The award-winning Death Records and Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative projects received over 23 million hits in 2012.

In 2008, Carnahan worked with Missouri's local election authorities to ensure all eligible Missourians had access to the ballot box. She has been a strong advocate for early voting, paper ballots and better training for Election Day poll workers.[8]

Carnahan served as Co-Chair of both the Elections and Securities Committees of the National Association of Secretaries of State. She also served on the Executive Committee and as Chair of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State.

Carnahan's tenure in office focused on providing outstanding customer service to Missouri businesses, financial professionals, investors, voters, genealogists, researchers and hundreds of thousands of other customers. In the closeout audit at the end of her term in 2013, Republican State Auditor Thomas Schweich gave Carnahan's office the highest possible performance rating of "excellent".[9]

2010 U.S. Senate campaign

On February 3, 2009, Carnahan announced she would run for the United States Senate in 2010 to replace retiring U.S. Senator Kit Bond, saying it's time to “stop the political bickering and start solving problems”.[10] She was elected the Democratic nominee in the primary election held August 3, 2010.

In October, Carnahan was endorsed by the Kansas City Star,[11] the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,[12] and the St. Louis American.[13] However, Carnahan was defeated by Republican Roy Blunt as part of a Republican wave of victories in the midterm election.

After politics

After leaving office Carnahan joined the global strategy firm Albright Stonebridge Group, founded by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.[14] She continued to live in Missouri and also advised civic technology firms and organizations seeking to help government deliver better services for citizens and cut costs for taxpayers through smarter use of technology. She then became a strategic adviser for LaunchCode,[15] an organization that connects people to economic opportunity through paid apprenticeships in programming and technology. She regularly is featured in the media and has spoken before national groups and congressional and legislative committees on finance, regulatory and elections issues as well as on how to use technology innovations to improve delivery of government services.[16][17] In 2013 Carnahan was named a Fellow at the University of Chicago's non-partisan Institute of Politics.[18] Carnahan also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Democratic Institute.[19]

In February 2016, Carnahan joined the General Services Administration as the Director of the State and Local practice of 18F.[20] There, she leads a team of digital technology consultants who are providing consulting and acquisition services to help state and local agencies use the best practices of human-centered design, agile, and modular procurement.[21]

Family legacy

Carnahan comes from a family that has been active in Missouri politics for several generations. Her grandfather, A. S. J. Carnahan was elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat from south-central Missouri. He served only one term before being defeated in 1946, but ran again in 1948 and won. Carnahan served in the House for six more terms and in 1961 was appointed by President John F. Kennedy as the first American ambassador to Sierra Leone. Her father, Mel Carnahan, served in the state legislature, as State Treasurer, Lt. Governor and as Governor of Missouri from 1993 until his death in 2000 in a plane crash while campaigning for the US Senate against incumbent John Ashcroft. Her mother, Jean Carnahan, became the first woman from Missouri to serve in the United States Senate from 2001 to 2003 when she was appointed to fill the seat Gov. Carnahan won posthumously.

Her brother Russ Carnahan was a member of Congress and represented the southern portion of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. Her brother Tom Carnahan founded Wind Capital Group. Robin Carnahan is married to Juan Carlos Antolinez.

On February 27, 2006, Carnahan announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She continued to serve as Secretary of State while undergoing treatment and her cancer is in remission.[22]

Electoral history

2010 U.S. Senate election

2010 race for U.S. Senate
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Roy Blunt 1,054,160 54.23 −1.86
Democratic Robin Carnahan 789,736 40.63 −2.17

As Secretary of State

2008 race for Secretary of State
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Robin Carnahan (incumbent) 1,749,152 61.81 +10.78
Republican Mitchell Hubbard 1,006,088 35.55 −10.86
Libertarian Wes Upchurch 39,296 1.39 −0.55
Constitution Denise C. Neely 35,274 1.25 +0.67
2004 race for Secretary of State
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Robin Carnahan 1,367,783 51.03
Republican Catherine Hanaway 1,243,003 46.41
Libertarian Christopher Davis 51,964 1.94
Constitution Donna Ivanovich 15,576 0.58

References

  1. ↑ Feds Extend 18F’s Silicon Valley Expertise to Cities, States
  2. ↑ National Democratic Institute Delegation Arrives to Observe Lebanon’s June 7 Parliamentary Elections. National Democratic Institute, June 3, 2009.
  3. ↑ Secretary Robin Carnahan (MO). Project Vote Smart.
  4. ↑ 2004 Missouri Secretary of State Election Results.
  5. ↑ Making Our Economy Strong for Working Families. Robin Carnahan: United States Senate].
  6. ↑ Volkmann, Kelsey. Carnahan: Wachovia close to auction rate securities deal. St. Louis Business Journal, August 11, 2008.
  7. ↑ Wednesday editorial: (Not) just like cash. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 19, 2008.
  8. ↑ Salter, Jim. Carnahan to push for early voting. Columbia Missourian, November 6, 2008.
  9. ↑ Auditor Gives Carnahan's Office "Excellent" Report for Final Year
  10. ↑ Robin Carnahan is IN for U.S. Senate in 2010. Prime Buzz.
  11. ↑ Recommendations for Missouri’s top races, editorial board, Kansas City Star, October 24, 2010.
  12. ↑ Carnahan for Senate: Part of the solution, not the problem, editorial board, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 22, 2010.
  13. ↑ American endorses Robin Carnahan and Barbara Fraser, editorial board, St. Louis American, October 21, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Former Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan Joins Albright Stonebridge Group". Albright Stonebridge Group. September 27, 2013. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Robin Carnahan joins LaunchCode as advisor". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 13, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  16. ↑ DipNote, U.S. Department of State Official Blog, Tech@State:ElectionTech
  17. ↑ 2013 Code for America Summit
  18. ↑ "Past Fellows". University of Chicago. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  19. ↑ "NDI Board of Directors". National Democratic Institute. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  20. ↑ Shueh, Jason (February 23, 2016). "Feds Extend 18F's Silicon Valley Expertise to Cities, States". Government Technology. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  21. ↑ "18F to Partner with Federal Agencies Providing Grants to State and Local Programs to Upgrade Digital Services". General Services Administration. February 24, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  22. ↑ Wagman, Jake. Carnahan, a breast cancer survivor, assembles team for Komen race. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 17, 2010.
Political offices
Preceded by
Matt Blunt		 Secretary of State of Missouri
2005–2013 		Succeeded by
Jason Kander
Party political offices
Preceded by
Nancy Farmer		 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Missouri
(Class 3)
2010 		Succeeded by
Jason Kander
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