McCaskill, Claire, 1953-

<p>Claire Conner McCaskill (/məˈkæskəl/; born July 24, 1953) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019 and as State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007.</p>

<p>McCaskill is a native of Rolla, Missouri. She graduated from the University of Missouri and the University of Missouri School of Law. A member of the Democratic Party, McCaskill served as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives from 1983 to 1989, as Jackson County Prosecutor from 1993 to 1998, and as the 34th State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007. She ran for Governor of Missouri in the 2004 election, defeating Democratic incumbent Bob Holden in the Democratic primary and losing to Republican Matt Blunt in a close general election.</p>

<p>McCaskill was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006. While the second female U.S. Senator to have represented Missouri, she is the first female candidate to actually have been elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri. (Jean Carnahan was appointed upon the death of her husband.) Re-elected in 2012, McCaskill was defeated in 2018 by Republican challenger Josh Hawley. As of February 2019, McCaskill is a political analyst for MSNBC and NBC and a visiting fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.</p>

<p>In 2006 Claire McCaskill defeated an incumbent United States Senator to start the first of her two terms in Washington. McCaskill had grown up in a political family, and public service def ined her adult life: first as a state lawmaker, then as a prosecutor, and finally as Missouri state auditor before winning election to the Senate. McCaskill’s blunt persona and sense of humor won the respect of both voters and colleagues; at other times, however, she encountered sexism on the campaign trail and in halls of government. In the Senate, McCaskill championed governmental accountability. She was a watchdog for taxpayers concerned about public spending and a keen investigator who exposed shortcomings in public institutions. “I think I am happiest when while I am both independent and trying to get people to agree on stuff,” McCaskill said in 2018.</p>

<p>Claire Connor McCaskill was born on July 24, 1953, in Rolla, Missouri, to William Y. and Betty Anne Ward McCaskill. Her father was an insurance agent active in local politics, who became state insurance commissioner. Her mother raised their four children and was also active in local politics. In 1971 Betty McCaskill became the first woman elected to the Columbia City council, and she later lost a run for the state legislature in 1978. McCaskill attended Hickman High School and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia in 1975, and a law degree there in in 1978. After clerking for the state court of appeals, she became an assistant prosecutor for Jackson County, which includes Kansas City. She married David Exposito in 1984, and they had three children: a son and two daughters. The marriage ended in divorce in 1995. McCaskill later married businessman Joseph Shepard in 2002.</p>

<p>In 1982, at age 29, McCaskill won an open seat in the state legislature and served for six years. It was a trying experience: male lawmakers in the statehouse alternately shunned and sexually harassed her. After an unsuccessful bid for Jackson County prosecutor in 1988, she practiced law for two years before winning a seat in the Jackson County legislature. In 1992 McCaskill ran for Jackson County prosecutor again and won. After six years as prosecutor, Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan recruited her to run for state auditor—the state’s major public investigative office. She won election in 1998 and served as auditor for eight years. In 2004 McCaskill ran for governor of Missouri. She defeated the incumbent, Bob Holden, in the Democratic primary but lost to Republican Matt Blunt in the general election.</p>