Robin Carnahan
Robin Carnahan was the administrator of the General Services Administration from 2021 to 2025. The Senate confirmed her on June 23, 2021, by voice vote.[1]
Carnahan is the former Democratic secretary of state for Missouri from 2005 to 2013. She was first elected to the state executive office in 2004 and subsequently re-elected in 2008.
From 2016 to 2020, she led the state and local government practice at 18F, a tech agency within the General Services Administration (GSA).[2]
In 2010, Carnahanran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Missouri. Carnahan was defeated in the general election on November 2, 2010.
Biography
Robin Carnahan was born on August 4, 1961. She graduated from Rolla High School. She earned a bachelor's degree in economics from William Jewell College and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.[3]
Carnahan worked as a special assistant to the president at the Export-Import Bank during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 1996. She then founded the international trade and business consulting firm Global Ventures, working there from 1997 to 2004.[3]
She served as the Missouri secretary of state from 2005 to 2013. Following her state executive service, she was a visiting fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and a senior advisor at the Albright Stonebridge Group. From 2016 to 2020, Carnahan was the director of state and local government practice at 18F, a tech agency within the General Services Administration.[2][3]
Political career
Administrator of the General Services Administration
On April 7, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) announced that he had selected Carnahan as his nominee for administrator of the General Services Administration.
The White House highlighted her previous experience at the agency in a statement, saying, "At GSA, Carnahan helped federal, state and local government agencies improve customer facing digital services and cut costs. In particular, she taught and empowered non-technical executives about how to reduce risk and deliver better results for the public by more effectively budgeting, procuring, implementing and overseeing digital modernization projects."[2]
Missouri Secretary of State (2005-2013)
Carnahan was first elected Missouri Secretary of State in 2004. She was re-elected in 2008. Carnahan did not seek re-election in 2012. She was succeeded by Jason Kander (D) on January 14, 2013.
The Senate confirmed her on June 23, 2021, by voice vote.[1]
United States v. Missouri
In 2005, the United States Department of Justice ("United States") filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri against the State of Missouri and Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan in her official capacity ("Missouri"). The suit claimed that the defendants failed to comply with properly maintaining voter registration lists, in violation of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act ("NVRA"). The district court held that the United States had failed to meet the burden of proof required to show that Missouri had violated the NVRA and ruled in favor of Missouri.[4][5]
On appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, the United States argued that the Western District of Missouri erred in its interpretation of the NVRA and challenged the district court's ruling that excluded LEA survey responses from evidence. The 8th Circuit affirmed the Western District of Missouri's evidentiary rulings, reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment to Missouri, and remanded the case back to the district court for reconsideration.[6]
In 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice voluntarily dismissed the case. In a March 2013 review of operations, the Office of the Inspector General included details on the United States' dismissal of the case:[7]
| “ | The history of the Missouri litigation is complex. Before the change in administrations, Coates and the Voting Section trial team briefed Acting AAG Grace Becker about the unfavorable prospects for the litigation and recommended that the case be dismissed. It is not clear from the evidence whether Becker had given a clear instruction on this matter at the time the administration ended and she left office. Although the case team did not provide this background information to Rosenbaum at the time he was asked to review the draft brief, we did not find any evidence to suggest that this omission was part of an intentional effort to conceal information from Rosenbaum or to induce him to make a decision with respect to the litigation that he would not have made if more fully informed. Rosenbaum told the OIG that he ultimately agreed with the case team’s recommendation to dismiss the matter, and the Department subsequently dismissed the case on a voluntary basis.[8] | ” |
| —Office of the Inspector General | ||
Early political career
Missouri Concealed Firearms Act
The Missouri Concealed Firearms Act, also known as Proposition B, was on the April 6, 1999 ballot in Missouri as a legislatively referred state statute, where it was defeated. The measure would have required county sheriffs and the chief of police in St. Louis County to issue permits to citizens who apply to carry concealed firearms. Carnahan chaired the Safe Schools and Workplaces Committee (SSWC), which ran television advertisements opposing Proposition B.[9][10]
Elections
2012
Carnahan did not seek re-election in 2012.[11][12] Carnahan was succeeded by state Rep. Jason Kander (D), who won election on November 6, 2012.
2010
| United States Senate |
|---|
|
| Elections, 2010 |
| Primary election dates, 2010 |
- See also: U.S. Senate election, Missouri, 2010
After four-term Republican Senator Kit Bond announced that he would not run for re-election, Carnahan entered the race and sought the Democratic nomination for the seat.[13][14] She won in the Democratic Party primary and advanced to the general election on Tuesday, August 3, 2010.[15] Carnahan was defeated in the general election. She received 40.6 percent of the vote. Republican Party candidate Roy Blunt received 54.3 percent of the vote.
| 2010 Race for United States Senate - General Election[16] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party |  Roy Blunt
|
54.3% | |
| Democratic Party | Robin Carnahan | 40.6% | |
| Libertarian Party | Jonathan Dine | 3.0% | |
| Constitution Party | Jerry Beck | 2.1% | |
| Total Votes | 1,939,902 | ||
| 2010 Race for United States Senate - Democratic Primary[17] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party | Robin Carnahan
|
83.9% | |
| Democratic Party | Richard Charles Tolbert | 10.6% | |
| Democratic Party | Francis J. Vangeli | 5.5% | |
| Total Votes | 317,591 | ||
2008
- 2008 Race for Secretary of State - Democratic Primary
- Robin Carnahan ran unopposed in this contest
| 2008 Race for Secretary of State - General Election[18] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party | Robin Carnahan
|
61.8% | |
| Republican Party | Mitchell Hubbard | 35.6% | |
| Libertarian Party | Wes Upchurch | 1.4% | |
| Constitution Party | Denise C. Neely | 1.2% | |
| Total Votes | 2,829,810 | ||
2004
- 2004 Race for Secretary of State - Democratic Primary
- Robin Carnahan ran unopposed in this contest
| 2004 Race for Secretary of State - General Election[19] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party | Robin Carnahan
|
51.1% | |
| Republican Party | Catherine Hanaway | 46.4% | |
| Libertarian Party | Christopher Davis | 1.9% | |
| Constitution Party | Donna Ivanovich | 0.6% | |
| Total Votes | 2,678,326 | ||
Campaign finance summary
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Robin Carnahan currently lives in Rolla, Missouri with her husband, Juan Carlos Antolinez. They currently have no children together.
See also
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Campaign Facebook page (2012 state executive election)
- Campaign website (2010 congressional election)
- Personal Twitter page
- ACORN and Carnahan website
- Campaign contributions: 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Congress.gov, "PN272 — Robin Carnahan — General Services Administration," accessed June 30, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 White House, "President Biden Announces his Intent to Nominate Robin Carnahan as Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA)," April 6, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 LinkedIn.com, "Robin Carnahan," accessed April 7, 2021
- ↑ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Carnahan’s victory in court; Was the suit political?" April 15, 2007
- ↑ U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, United States v. Missouri, decided April 13, 2007
- ↑ U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, United States v. Missouri, decided July 29, 2008
- ↑ U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, "A Review of the Operations of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division," March 2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ University of Missouri Institute for Public Policy, "Constitutional Amendments, Statutory Revision and Referenda Submitted to the Voters by the General Assembly or by Initiative Petition, 1910–2010," accessed May 19, 2014
- ↑ Chillicothe Constitution Tribune, "Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of Missouri," March 11, 1999
- ↑ STLToday.com, "Robin Carnahan will not run for a third term as secretary of state," accessed October 1, 2011
- ↑ Student Life, "Carnahan will not run for office in 2012, to work in private sector," October 13, 2011
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedamb - ↑ United Press International, "Sen. Kit Bond of Mo. announces retirement" 8 Jan. 2009
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedusaprimary - ↑ Missouri Secretary of State - 2010 General Election Results
- ↑ Missouri Secretary of State - 2010 Primary Election Results
- ↑ State of Missouri - Official Results 2008 General Election
- ↑ State of Missouri - Official Results 2004 General Election
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Matt Blunt |
Missouri Secretary of State 2005–2013 |
Succeeded by Jason Kander (D) |
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