Hanaway announces secretary of state bid

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Republican House Speaker Catherine Hanaway, 40, announced her candidacy for secretary of state Tuesday. Hanaway is the only Republican seeking to succeed Secretary of State Matt Blunt, who is expected to run for governor. Robin Carnahan, the daughter of the late Gov. Mel Carnahan and former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan, is the only Democratic candidate for secretary of state.

Hanaway, 40, of Warson Woods, coordinated the GOP takeover of the House in the 2002 legislative elections and subsequently was elected by her colleagues as House speaker _ the first women to hold the chamber's top leadership position. She could have sought one more two-year House stint before term limits prohibited her from running again.

But the 2004 election offered the possibility of running for secretary of state without having to challenge an incumbent. Hanaway said she will remain House speaker while campaigning for secretary of state.

The secretary of state serves as Missouri's chief elections official and record-keeper, receives corporate filings and enforces state securities laws.

Hanaway pledged to fulfill the traditional duties while placing a greater emphasis on businesses _ an approach similar to the one she has taken in the Legislature.

"My goals will be to protect the integrity of our elections process and to use the corporate secretary duties of that office to create jobs in this state," Hanaway said while announcing her candidacy at Missouri Republican Party headquarters.

"For a long time, that office has been a good recipient of information about businesses and people who want to do business in Missouri," she said. "It's time that it becomes a transmission site where we send information back out to businesses, back out to the Legislature, about pro-growth, pro-jobs opportunities here in Missouri." Those functions already are performed by the state Department of Economic Development, which reports to the governor. Hanaway said she wants to work with that agency.

Carnahan, who announced her candidacy last summer, made no mention of Hanaway in a statement released Tuesday, but she touted a similar theme.

"I'm running for secretary of state because Missourians deserve someone committed to bringing innovative ideas and leadership to that office," Carnahan said. "The secretary of state can play an important role in creating jobs and promoting small business, protecting investors and, of course, in safeguarding our elections and streamlining and updating the voting process." Carnahan and Hanaway both are attorneys who have focused on business law, although Hanaway has not done any legal work in two years because she has focused on her legislative job. Both women also have well-established political networks with a prowess for fund-raising.

Hanaway gained an apparently clear shot at the Republican nomination when state Sen. Sarah Steelman, of Rolla, announced two weeks ago that she was abandoning the secretary of state's race and instead running for state treasurer. Republican Party leaders had encouraged either Steelman or Hanaway to exit the secretary of state's race to avoid a potentially contentious primary that could hurt the victor's chances against Carnahan in the general election.

Hanaway said Tuesday that should would have run for secretary of state even if Steelman had not backed down.