MO-Senate: Bond to Retire
Missouri Sen. Kit Bond (R) will retire in 2010, a decision that hands Democrats a prime pickup opportunity in a state where the party has made strides in recent years.
"In 1972, I became Missouri's youngest Governor," Bond said this morning in an address to the Missouri General Assembly. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I do no aspire to become Missouri's oldest Senator."
Bond is the third Republican Senator to leave the chamber in 2010 -- following Sens. Sam Brownback (Kans.) and Mel Martinez (Fla.) down that path. Democrats are expected to heavily target all three seats.
Bond's retirement ends a long -- and, at times, rocky -- career in Missouri politics that began more than four decades ago when he ran and lost a race for Congress. In 1970, Bond bounced back to be elected state auditor and two years after that was elected governor of the Show Me State. In 1976 he was defeated for re-election but in 1980 reclaimed the office. (We told you it was a long and rocky career.) In 1986, Bond won a Senate seat and had managed to hold the seat ever since -- winning re-election to a fourth term in 2004 with 56 percent, his highest share of the vote ever.
Bond's retirement makes a candidacy by Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, the daughter of the late Governor Mel and former Senator Jean Carnahan, even more likely. Robin Carnahan had made no secret of the fact she was thinking about the race before Bond's decision. Another potential candidate is state Attorney General Chris Koster although Carnahan has the right of first refusal.
The Republican bench is thinner. The two names likely to get significant attention over the next few days are former Rep. Kenny Hulshof and Rep. Roy Blunt.
Hulshof was seen as a rising star in the party heading into the 2008 election but his drubbing at the hands of Gov.-elect Jay Nixon may well have taken some of the shine off of the former Congressman.
Blunt, now out of Republican leadership after years near its top, has no obvious reason to stay in Congress and will almost certainly take a look at the contest. But, Blunt has a young child and may prefer to leave Congress for the private sector rather than pursue a statewide campaign. One Republican aide on Capitol Hill with Missouri ties told the Political Browser's Ben Pershing: "I bet party leaders lean heavily on Blunt to do it, because he has a tremendous organization and is one of the few people who might be viable."
Republicans were quick to argue that Bond's retirement was not necessarily a bad thing -- as he had spent decades in office (not exactly a good thing in the eyes of change voters) and, at nearly 70, might not have had the required energy to beat back a challenge from Carnahan.
Even so, open seats are almost always more vulnerable than races where incumbents are running and Republicans now have three to deal with. And, Missouri voters of late have shown a willingness to vote for Democrats -- Nixon for governor, Claire McCaskill for Senate in 2006 and very nearly Barack Obama for president in 2008.
By Chris Cillizza January 8, 2009; 11:12 AM ET Category: Senate
Missouri Sen. Kit Bond (R) will retire in 2010, a decision that hands Democrats a prime pickup opportunity in a state where the party has made strides in recent years.
"In 1972, I became Missouri's youngest Governor," Bond said this morning in an address to the Missouri General Assembly. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I do no aspire to become Missouri's oldest Senator."
Bond is the third Republican Senator to leave the chamber in 2010 -- following Sens. Sam Brownback (Kans.) and Mel Martinez (Fla.) down that path. Democrats are expected to heavily target all three seats.
Bond's retirement ends a long -- and, at times, rocky -- career in Missouri politics that began more than four decades ago when he ran and lost a race for Congress. In 1970, Bond bounced back to be elected state auditor and two years after that was elected governor of the Show Me State. In 1976 he was defeated for re-election but in 1980 reclaimed the office. (We told you it was a long and rocky career.) In 1986, Bond won a Senate seat and had managed to hold the seat ever since -- winning re-election to a fourth term in 2004 with 56 percent, his highest share of the vote ever.
Bond's retirement makes a candidacy by Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, the daughter of the late Governor Mel and former Senator Jean Carnahan, even more likely. Robin Carnahan had made no secret of the fact she was thinking about the race before Bond's decision. Another potential candidate is state Attorney General Chris Koster although Carnahan has the right of first refusal.
The Republican bench is thinner. The two names likely to get significant attention over the next few days are former Rep. Kenny Hulshof and Rep. Roy Blunt.
Hulshof was seen as a rising star in the party heading into the 2008 election but his drubbing at the hands of Gov.-elect Jay Nixon may well have taken some of the shine off of the former Congressman.
Blunt, now out of Republican leadership after years near its top, has no obvious reason to stay in Congress and will almost certainly take a look at the contest. But, Blunt has a young child and may prefer to leave Congress for the private sector rather than pursue a statewide campaign. One Republican aide on Capitol Hill with Missouri ties told the Political Browser's Ben Pershing: "I bet party leaders lean heavily on Blunt to do it, because he has a tremendous organization and is one of the few people who might be viable."
Republicans were quick to argue that Bond's retirement was not necessarily a bad thing -- as he had spent decades in office (not exactly a good thing in the eyes of change voters) and, at nearly 70, might not have had the required energy to beat back a challenge from Carnahan.
Even so, open seats are almost always more vulnerable than races where incumbents are running and Republicans now have three to deal with. And, Missouri voters of late have shown a willingness to vote for Democrats -- Nixon for governor, Claire McCaskill for Senate in 2006 and very nearly Barack Obama for president in 2008.
By Chris Cillizza January 8, 2009; 11:12 AM ET Category: Senate
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