Carnahan won't run for Mo. secretary of state

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan said Friday she will not seek re-election in 2012, setting off a scramble among Democrats to find a candidate for an office that can serve as a political stepping stone to even bigger things.

Carnahan, 50, said in an emailed statement addressed to supporters that she plans to return to "private life" when her term ends in January 2013, but she did not rule out another run for office in the future. The Democrat won election as secretary of state in 2004 and was re-elected in 2008, but she was soundly defeated in a U.S. Senate campaign last year by Republican Rep. Roy Blunt.

Although a Carnahan spokesman said in February that she intended to seek re-election, Carnahan had not been raising money and had shown few signs of building a 2012 campaign team.

"After careful reflection, I've decided not to run for a third term as secretary of state," Carnahan said in her emailed statement. She later added: "After eight years as secretary of state, the time will be right for me to return to private life, to gather new ideas and experiences and a fresh perspective."

Carnahan comes from one of Missouri's most prominent political families. She is the daughter of the late Gov. Mel Carnahan and former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan, who was appointed to the fill seat her husband won posthumously after he was killed in an October 2000 plane crash while campaigning. One of Robin Carnahan's brothers also died in the crash. Another one of her siblings is U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, whose district includes part of the St. Louis area. Her other brother, Tom Carnahan, is a wind farm investor who is scheduled to host a fundraiser for President Barack Obama next week.

Minutes after Carnahan bowed out of the secretary of state's race, Democratic state Rep. Jason Kander of Kansas City issued a statement declaring his candidacy. Kander, 30, is a lawyer who served as a military intelligence officer in Afghanistan and was first elected to the Missouri House in 2008.

"It is important that the next secretary of state continues moving the office forward in the most efficient and effective manner," Kander said in his announcement.

Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders, another Kansas City area Democrat, also is "taking really good look" at running for secretary of state, said his political spokesman, Glenn Campbell.

"This is definitely a game changer. It wasn't something he was going to challenge her for," Campbell said. But "it's something that's being discussed quite a bit at the moment."

The secretary of state oversees Missouri's elections and also regulates securities, handles business registration, publishes state regulations and manages the state library and archives. Like Carnahan, many of the Missouri's other recent secretaries of state have run for higher statewide offices.

Even before Carnahan's announcement, two Republican state senators already had declared their candidacies for secretary of state in 2012. They are Sens. Scott Rupp of Wentzville and Bill Stouffer of Napton.

Carnahan probably had a good chance of winning re-election, said Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her exit from the race could prompt others from both major political parties to consider running.

"It certainly suggests that the Republicans are going to be more competitive than they would have been had she sought re-election," Squire said. "And Democrats are going to have to scramble to come up with a candidate that can run on the ticket, largely with the governor."

Before running for office, Carnahan worked for the National Democratic Institute on elections abroad and served as assistant to the chairman of the Export-Import Bank. While in office, she got married and successfully fought cancer. Carnahan did not specifically say what she planned to do upon leaving office, but said she planned to stay "engaged and involved" in public service.

"Many who step away from public life cite a desire to 'spend more time with family,'" Carnahan said. "I've already learned to cherish every moment spent with family and friends, because I know that life is precious and unpredictable. But I've also learned that service can and does take many forms, and elective office is just one of them."