Jackson County Democratic Committee

Robin Carnahan is Missouri’s Secretary of State. She was first elected to the office in 2004 and re-elected in 2008 earning more votes than any candidate in Missouri history. As Secretary of State, Carnahan has focused on protecting consumers, cracking down on financial fraud, cutting costs and red-tape for businesses, and safeguarding the integrity of elections. Her commitment to protecting investors and fighting against fraud has resulted in nearly $9.5 billion being returned to tens of thousands of investors across the country. Additionally, her continuing efforts to enable businesses and entrepreneurs to file reports and documents on-line have helped save Missouri businesses nearly $10 million dollars so far.

Since coming to the Secretary of State’s office, Carnahan has been a leader in ensuring fair elections. She has modernized and improved Missouri’s elections system by implementing Missouri’s first statewide voter registration system, creating the Missouri Voting Rights Center, and launching a new interactive election results website.

Carnahan has also greatly expanded access to Missouri’s historic collections and government records online. She successfully fought for the creation of, and currently administers, Missouri’s Safe at Home address confidentiality program, which helps protect victims of domestic violence from continued abuse.
In 2005 the Aspen Institute, one of the nation’s leading non-partisan think tanks, identified Secretary Carnahan as a “rising star” in American government and selected her to be among a nationwide group of only 20 government leaders chosen for their ability to work across party lines to get things done. In the historic 2008 election cycle, she served as co-chair of the Elections Committee for the bi-partisan National Association of Secretaries of State.

Prior to her election, Carnahan had a successful career in business and law. She served at the Export-Import Bank of the United States where she explored innovative ways to help American companies increase their sale of goods and services abroad. She also specialized in business and corporate law at a major Missouri law firm.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Carnahan worked in central and eastern Europe with the National Democratic Institute helping rebuild the region’s economies and governments by drafting voting laws, training new political leaders and monitoring elections.

Carnahan grew up in Rolla, Missouri, and graduated from Rolla High School. Her parents, Mel and Jean Carnahan, instilled in her a deep sense of public service and a responsibility to help others. Carnahan earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, graduating magna cum laude from William Jewell College, a small Baptist college in Liberty, Missouri. She earned her law degree from the University of Virginia.

Today, in addition to her duties as Secretary of State, Carnahan continues to manage her family’s small business, a 900-acre farm and cattle operation near Rolla. She is also an avid runner (having completed five marathons) and an instrument-rated pilot. Her husband, Juan Carlos, develops and maintains business computer systems.