Russ Carnahan officially launches campaign for Gephardt's seat

ST. LOUIS -- Dick Gephardt became a household name during his 26 years in Congress, and now state Rep. Russ Carnahan hopes to use his own name to help pick up where the Democratic Gephardt leaves off.

Carnahan, son of former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan and the late Gov. Mel Carnahan, on Wednesday formally launched his campaign to represent the St. Louis-area 3rd Congressional District. Gephardt is not seeking re-election next year because he's running for president.

During an announcement in front of a couple of hundred supporters in a St. Louis park, Carnahan called the campaign "an opportunity whose time has come."

"I think I'm ready for this next chapter in my life," Carnahan said as his mother sat in the crowd, smiling. "Together, let us turn the page of history and begin a new chapter."

Afterward, his mother said she proudly backed her son's campaign for national office.

"I think he can make a great contribution," she said. "He hasn't asked me for advice yet."

Gephardt, the former House Minority Leader, has not taken sides in an already crowded Democratic primary field, which also includes state Sen. Steve Stoll, of Festus, and St. Louis Circuit Clerk Mariano Favazza.

Carnahan, 44, has run for Congress before. He was the Democratic nominee in 1990 against longtime Republican Rep. Bill Emerson, who won re-election with 57 percent of the vote in southeast Missouri's 8th Congressional District.

Gained House seat

Carnahan won election to the state House in 2000 and won a second two-year term last November. He chaired the House Democratic Caucus until April, when he left that post to run for Gephardt's seat.

Carnahan's father was Missouri governor from 1993 until he died Oct. 16, 2000, in a plane crash while challenging then-Sen. John Ashcroft, now the U.S. attorney general.

Voters chose Mel Carnahan knowing his widow, Jean, would be appointed to fill the vacancy created by his death. She campaigned last year to finish out the term but narrowly lost to Republican Jim Talent.

Russ Carnahan's late grandfather, A.S.J. Carnahan, served seven terms in the U.S. House before losing in the 1960 primary. He went on to become U.S. ambassador to Sierra Leone. He died in 1968.

Carnahan's familiar name may give him an edge against Democratic challengers who will need to spend money to introduce themselves to voters, Missouri Republican Party spokesman Scott Baker said.

"He's maybe got a step up when it comes to name recognition, and sometimes that's half the battle," Baker said. The state GOP is still looking at its potential candidates, hoping to end that party's 3rd District slump, he said.

The GOP has not held the seat since 1949 and has represented the district for only 24 of the past 157 years, state records show. The Whig Party held the post for six years in the 1850s.

There is at least one GOP candidate this year: Bill Federer, who was the Republican nominee against Gephardt in 1998 and 2000 but lost both times, with Gephardt getting 56 percent and about 58 percent of the vote, respectively.

Federer is suing Gephardt over an incident in one of those campaigns; Federer was acquitted in January of a related assault charge.

"We're certainly soliciting and hearing from people who would be very strong candidates for that district," Baker said, suggesting "there are a lot of middle-of-the road to conservative Democrats in that district" who may be receptive to voting GOP.

"We will have a candidate with a message that resonates with those voters," Baker said. "It's a mistake to assume that the district's makeup is similar to the extreme stances we've seen from Dick Gephardt these days."

Despite his name recognition, Carnahan clearly plans to spend money on the race. He loaned himself $50,100 to start his campaign treasury, and at the end of March reported raising a total of $108,840, including the loan, toward the race, according to federal election records.

He didn't spend much of his campaign treasury during that time: Reports show Carnahan spent about $390 on a mailing and $2,000 on a contribution to Gephardt's presidential campaign.

Stoll and Favazza also have filed candidacy papers with the FEC, but no money-raising reports are on file.