Jim Talent

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James Matthes "Jim" Talent, a Republican, was a senator for Missouri from 2003 to 2007. He was defeated in the 2006 congressional elections by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

In June 2007, O'Dwyer's PR Daily reported that, in his new role as co-chair of the PR firm Fleishman-Hillard's government relations (or lobbying) practice, Talent will be "spearheading the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers' bid to torpedo the effort to raise fuel mileage standards to 52 miles per gallon" by 2030. Instead, the automakers are supporting a compromise measure from Senators Carl Levin and Kit Bond. "Talent cannot lobby for the Levin-Bond bill because of Senate rules," explained O'Dwyer's. "He can do media outreach on behalf of the carmakers." [1]

Contents

Bio

Background

Talent (born October 18, 1956) is a lifelong resident of the St. Louis area. He began his political career in 1984 when he was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives. He served four terms there, the last two as minority leader.

In 1992, Talent defeated Bert Walker to won the Republican nomination for the state's 2nd Congressional District, based in St. Louis' western suburbs. He went on to defeat Democratic incumbent Joan Kelly Horn in the general election. Talent won narrowly, but never faced another close race in what rapidly became a solidly Republican district. The only serious challenge he faced during this period came in 1996, when Horn sought a rematch. Even though popular Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan was running for reelection, Talent dispatched Horn fairly easily, winning 61% of the vote [2]. He served as chairman of the House Committee on Small Business from 1997 to 2001.

Senate Career

Talent did not seek re-election to Congress in 2000, instead running for governor. He was narrowly defeated by Democratic state treasurer Bob Holden [3]. In that same election, Carnahan, who remained on the ballot for election to a Senate seat even though he had died in a plane crash three weeks before the election, defeated John Ashcroft. Lieutenant Governor Roger Wilson, as promised, appointed Carnahan's widow, Jean, in her husband's place. However, the Seventeenth Amendment requires that such appointments last only until a special election is held. Talent received the Republican nomination, narrowly defeated Jean Carnahan in the midterm election of November 2002, and was sworn in later that month to fill out the balance of Mel Carnahan's term. [4] [5]

Talent sought re-election in 2006. His Democratic opponent was state auditor Claire McCaskill. Polls conducted in the fall of 2005 suggest that the race was likely to be very close [6]. Talent held a significant initial fundraising advantage [7], due in part to support from the Bush administration; on Oct 11, 2005, Vice President Dick Cheney held a fundraiser for Talent. [8] McCaskill nullified these advanteages, however, and was helped by nationwide anti-Republican sentiment to a 50%-47% victory over Talent. [9]

Positions and Views

Flag Burning

Talent is a strong supporter of the Flag Desecration Amendment. He has said that flag burning is not speech, but "an act with expressive overtones." He is a co-sponsor in the Senate of a constitutional amendment to override the Supreme Court, making it possible to criminalize flag-burning.

Stem Cell Research

Since joining the Senate in 2002, Talent had supported federal legislation that would ban all stem cell research. This included co-sponsoring a bill (S.658)[10] sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback which would ban all forms of human cloning, including embryonic therapeutic cloning techniques that are seen as crucial to stem cell research. However, on Feb 10, 2006, Talent withdrew his support for the bill, citing the need to balance research and protection against human cloning. [11] This move followed criticism by Talent's likely Democratic opponent in the 2006 election, Claire McCaskill, as well as pressure from Missouri business interests that oppose restrictions on stem cell research. Though this reversal was widely criticized as bring due to politics [12], Talent told the Associated Press, ""The technology is changing all the time and so I'm always considering whether there is a better way to strike the balance." [13] Talent suggests that moral concerns might be put to rest through a possible future scientific breakthrough- replicating embryonic stem cells without the use of cloned embryos.

There is likely to be a ballot-initiative in Missouri in Nov. 2006 to allow Stem Cell research. Initially, Senator Talent indicated he might support the initiative [14], but has since declared his opposition. [15]

Money in politics

The live feed of campaign contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics appears to be down.
You may still be able to get the information from the links below.

Links to more campaign contribution information for Jim Talent
from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.
Fundraising profile: 2008 election cycle Career totals
Top contributors by organization/corporation: 2008 election cycle Career totals
Top contributors by industry: 2008 election cycle Career totals

Controversy

Committees and Affiliations

Committees in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

Coalitions and Caucuses

  • Speaker's Health Care Task Force, 1995-1996
  • Deputy Whip/Member, President Bush's Export Council

Boards and other Affiliations

  • Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce
  • West County Chamber of Commerce

More Background Data

Wikipedia also has an article on Jim Talent. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.

Articles and Resources

Resources

Articles

Local blogs and discussion sites

Contact

DC Office:
493 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-2504
Phone: 202-224-6154
Fax: 202-228-1518
Web Email
Website

District Office- Kansas City:
Whittaker Federal Office Building, Suite 40 Plaza Level
400 East 9th Street
Kansas City, MO 64106
Phone: 816-421-1639
Fax:

District Office- Springfield:
1721 West Elfindale, Suite 301
Springfield, MO 65807
Phone: 417-831-2735
Fax:

District Office- Cape Girardeau:
339 Broadway, Room 136
Cape Girardeau, MO 63701
Phone: 573-651-0964
Fax:

District Office- Jefferson City:
3 City Place Drive, Suite 1020
St. Louis, MO 63141
Phone: 314-432-5211
Fax:

District Office- Jefferson City:
122 East High Street, 2nd Floor
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Phone: 573-636-1070
Fax:

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