Carnahan files for Senate seat

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A candidate for the first time, Democratic U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan filed Monday for election to the Senate seat to which she was appointed after her husband's death.

Carnahan, 68, has served in the Senate since Jan. 3, 2001 -- the date on which her husband, Mel Carnahan, was to have taken office.

Mel Carnahan, Missouri's governor at the time, was killed in a plane crash three weeks before the November 2000 election but still defeated Republican Sen. John Ashcroft, who later became attorney general. The Carnahans' oldest son, Randy, and longtime adviser Chris Sifford also were killed in the crash.

Carnahan agreed to accept a Senate appointment should her late husband win, and supporters quickly developed an informal campaign slogan: "Don't let the fire go out."

Now, to remain in office, Carnahan must win election for the remaining four years of the six-year Senate term.

So far, she is the only Democratic Senate candidate in the August primary. She is expected to be challenged by Republican Jim Talent, a former congressman who narrowly lost a bid for governor in 2000. But Talent first must face a primary opponent.

Carnahan said she will campaign based on her Senate record, not the memory of her late husband.