Claire McCaskill: From Missouri Roots to National Politics

Claire Conner McCaskill, born on July 24, 1953, is an American politician and attorney who served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as state auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007. McCaskill is a native of Rolla, Missouri. Throughout her career, McCaskill has been known for her commitment to transparency, governmental accountability, and advocating for the needs of Missourians.

Early Life and Education

McCaskill spent her early childhood in the small Missouri town of Houston, later moving to Lebanon, and, eventually, Columbia. McCaskill was born in Rolla, Missouri, to William Young McCaskill (1925-1993), who served as a state insurance commissioner during the administration of Governor Warren E. Hearnes, and Betty Anne (née Ward; 1928-2012), who was the first woman elected to the city council of Columbia, Missouri. She attended David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, where she was a cheerleader, Pep Club president, a member of the debate club, a musical cast member, and homecoming queen. While attending the University of Missouri, McCaskill joined Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, graduating in 1975 with a B.A. in political science. She received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Missouri School of Law in 1978.

Early Career and Political Beginnings

Following her graduation from law school, she spent one year as a law clerk on the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District, which sits in Kansas City. In 1982, McCaskill was elected to represent the Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City in the Missouri House of Representatives. McCaskill served as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives from 1983 to 1989. In February 1991, she testified in favor of a Missouri Senate bill that would prohibit a man accused of raping his wife from using marriage as a defense, stating, "This is simply an issue of fundamental justice."

In December 1991, McCaskill announced her intention to run for county prosecutor. McCaskill won the Democratic primary, and she went on to win the 1992 general election with 53 percent of the vote. McCaskill was the first woman to serve as prosecutor for Jackson County. Continuing her work in the courtroom, she gained a reputation as a fierce and tough-as-nails prosecutor. Her sharp and deft cross-examination skills were effective - cutting straight to the point, a skill that later served her well in hearings as a United States Senator.

State Auditor and Gubernatorial Run

In 1998, McCaskill was elected as state auditor with 50.3 percent of the vote in the general election. She was the second female to hold the post, the first having been her immediate predecessor, Margaret B. During her tenure, McCaskill established a long track record of rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse of power in government, beginning performance audits that did more than just make sure the money was accounted for, but also asked whether these government programs were actually working.

On November 2, 2004, McCaskill lost to her Republican opponent, then-Secretary of State Matt Blunt in the general election by a margin of 51% to 48%.

Election to the U.S. Senate

McCaskill ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and faced Republican nominee Todd Akin in the general election. Until mid-August, polling showed them running neck and neck. Then, in a television interview on August 12, Akin claimed that women who were the victims of what he described as "legitimate rape" rarely ended up pregnant. His comments caused controversy and he was criticized by members of both parties. He faced calls to withdraw from the race but did not do so, and McCaskill opened up an increasing lead in opinion polls. Akin's comments caused a backlash among voters, particularly women, and McCaskill was re-elected with 55% of the vote to his 39%. McCaskill was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006, becoming the first woman to be elected to the chamber from Missouri.

Tenure in the Senate

During her time in the Senate, McCaskill championed governmental accountability and worked across the aisle to address key issues affecting Missourians and the nation.

Focus on Waste and Fraud

Claire’s background as a prosecutor and auditor deeply informed her work in the Senate, where she championed a six-year-long battle to rein in wasteful wartime contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan and addressed tens of billions of wasted taxpayer dollars. She was known for her efforts to curb waste and fraud among military contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, utilizing the oversight skills she developed as state auditor. She introduced legislation to extend whistle-blower protections for defense contractor employees and for employees of contractors working with the intelligence community. As the top-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Claire launched what one news outlet called “the biggest Congressional investigation” into the business practices of opioid manufacturers. McCaskill supports a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution to ensure that the federal government is using the same commonsense budgeting principles that Missouri families follow.

Healthcare

Claire worked across the aisle to pass legislation to lower the price of prescription drugs. Claire supports fixing and improving the Affordable Care Act to ensure that all Missourians can afford and access coverage. To this end, she has worked with her Republican colleagues to remove burdensome reporting requirements for businesses and reverse undue stress on small business owners. Claire has also introduced legislation to allow anyone without an insurance provider in their county’s individual market to buy health insurance on the DC exchange - the same way their Members of Congress do. Witnessing the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs, Claire worked across the aisle to conduct an investigation into why pharmaceutical companies were raising prices on consumers. Claire has also consistently opposed efforts to transform Medicare into a voucher system, while working to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in the program.

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Veterans Affairs

The daughter of a World War II veteran, she fought tirelessly for vets, including passing into law a bill to deliver decades-old relief to veterans who were exposed to mustard gas during World War II. A senior member of the Armed Services Committee, Claire has worked across the aisle to improve management and care at the VA. Claire believes strongly that every veteran has a right to the benefits that they have earned.

Consumer Protection

Known for her work on behalf of consumers, Claire spearheaded efforts to improve consumer protections against robocalls, recalled vehicles, and sky-high cable bills. Following an investigation into how robocalls harm consumers, Claire introduced legislation to crack down on fraudulent robocalls. She has investigated the billing and customer service practices in the cable and satellite TV industries.

Other Key Issues

In January 2008, McCaskill endorsed then-Senator Barack Obama in his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president, making her one of the first Senators to do so. She was one of the most visible faces for his campaign, and her support was crucial to Obama's narrow victory in the Missouri primary in February 2008. She has credited her daughter Maddie as having persuaded her to publicly endorse Obama. She was frequently mentioned as a possible vice-presidential nominee for Obama, but was never seriously considered. In 2013, McCaskill announced that she would be supporting Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. During the primaries, McCaskill was among Clinton's top surrogates. In 2013, the National Journal gave her a 46% score on "Liberal on Economic Policy" and a 53% score on "Conservative on Economic Policy".

On January 14, 2014, she introduced the Victims Protection Act of 2014 (S. 1917; 113th Congress), which sought to help victims of sexual assault in the military. In 2017, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund gave McCaskill a 100% lifetime rating for her positions on health care. In August 2017, McCaskill introduced the Health Care Options for All Act, whereby people living in counties with no health-care exchanges "would be able to buy coverage through the D.C. She voted for expanded background checks and co-sponsored the "Feinstein Amendment," a proposal that would have made it illegal for individuals on the terror watchlist to purchase guns. In January 2016, McCaskill was one of eighteen senators to sign a letter to Thad Cochran and Barbara Mikulski requesting that the Labor, Health and Education subcommittee hold a hearing on whether to allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to fund a study of gun violence and "the annual appropriations rider that some have interpreted as preventing it" with taxpayer dollars.

Claire believes that climate change is real, and that it poses a real threat to the health of Missouri’s families and communities. She also supports alternative energies to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Claire has fought back against efforts to dismantle the air and water standards that have kept Missouri’s natural resources clean for our families and future generations. Unafraid to stand up to anyone in her pursuit to do what’s right for Missouri, Claire broke with her own party and voted in favor of the Keystone Pipeline because of the benefits it would provide to Missouri. Claire believes that we need to do more to defeat ISIS, and has cosponsored legislation to strengthen our response to this growing threat. Claire strongly supports the F/A-18 Super Hornet and the EA-18 Growler. She is also a strong advocate for Whiteman Air Force Base, working to protect the base from closures; Fort Leonard Wood, praising its leading role in opening more military jobs to female servicemembers; and the St. Joseph 139th Airlift Wing, helping to secure funding for upgraded facilities.

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Controversies

On March 16, 2011, McCaskill told reporters that she was "embarrassed" about revelations that her office had used taxpayer money for the senator's use of a private airplane she co-owned with her husband and friends. On March 2, 2017, McCaskill tweeted that she had had "No call or meeting w/Russian ambassador.

Political Stance

McCaskill was considered a moderate Democrat, often breaking with more liberal members of her party. She has been described as masterful in the art of compromise, knowing it takes a bold, inventive approach when reaching across the aisle to forge common ground. She is known for her ability to knit together the middle to get results.

Election Defeat and Post-Senate Career

Although she stressed her position as a moderate-at one point she claimed that she was “not one of those crazy Democrats”-McCaskill was ultimately defeated by Republican firebrand Josh Hawley in what she later said was her last race for public office. She left the Senate in January 2019. On January 15, 2019, McCaskill joined NBC News and MSNBC as a political analyst. McCaskill is featured as a regular guest on Deadline: White House and Morning Joe.

Personal Life

McCaskill was married to David Exposito, with whom she had three children. The couple divorced in 1995, after 11 years of marriage, while McCaskill was Jackson County Prosecutor. On the October 3, 2009, episode of Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! on National Public Radio, McCaskill spoke about a vacation early in her career as a lawyer, when she was a contestant on High Rollers. McCaskill maintains residences in Washington, D.C., and Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis. She joined Sheryl Sandberg's movement to encourage young women to be more assertive in professional interactions. On February 22, 2016, McCaskill announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Claire and her husband Joseph live in St.

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