Sarah Steelman

For the similarly named Pennsylvania politician, see Sara Steelman.

Sarah Steelman
44th State Treasurer of Missouri
In office January 10, 2005 – January 12, 2009
Governor	Matt Blunt
Preceded by	Nancy Farmer
Succeeded by	Clint Zweifel
Member of the Missouri Senate from the 16th district
In office January 6, 1999 – January 10, 2005
Preceded by	Mike Lybyer
Succeeded by	Frank Barnitz
Personal details
Born	May 3, 1958 (1958-05-03) (age 53) Jefferson City, Missouri, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	David Steelman
Alma mater	University of Missouri Business School (M.A.) University of Missouri (B.A.)
Profession	Economist, Professor
Website	sarahsteelman.com

Sarah Steelman (born May 3, 1958) is an American politician from Missouri, serving as State Treasurer from 2005 to 2009. She did not run for re-election as State Treasurer in 2008, having run for Governor, and was succeeded in office by Democrat Clint Zweifel on January 12, 2009. She was cited by the New York Times to be among the seventeen women most likely to become the first female President of the United States.^[1] On November 29, 2010, Steelman announced she will run for the U.S. Senate in 2012.^[2]

Early life, education, and economics career

Sarah Steelman is the second wife of David Steelman, former Republican Leader in the Missouri House. Her father, John Hearne, is a senior partner in the Jefferson City law firm of Hearne and Green.^[3] Her father-in-law is the late Dorman Steelman, a former chairman of the Missouri Republican Party.

She attended Jefferson City public schools before attending University of Missouri,^[4] from where she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and a Master of Arts degree in Economics. Prior to her election in 1998, Steelman served as deputy director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. She also worked as an economist for the Missouri Department of Revenue and as an adjunct professor of Economics at Lincoln University of Missouri in Jefferson City.

Political career

State Senate

In 1998, Steelman ran against incumbent Democratic State Senator Mike Lybyer, a popular incumbent who was running for a fifth term. In his previous re-election campaign in 1994, Lybyer defeated State Representative Merrill Townley with 55% of the vote, despite the national Republican wave that year.^[5] However in 1998, Steelman defeated Lybyer by a 58% to 42% margin.^[6]. Steelman represented Callaway, Osage, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Crawford, Texas, and Dent counties. In 2002, she won re-election with 71% of the vote.^[7]

Steelman endorsed John McCain for president in 2000, and briefly considered running for the U.S. Senate in November 2002 against Senator Jean Carnahan, but instead she opted to run for re-election to her seat in the state Senate.

State Treasurer

In 2004, Steelman ran for Treasurer of Missouri. In the Republican primary, she won a plurality of vote (39%) and defeated U.S. Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, businessman Tom Klein, State Senator Anita Yeckel, Chaplain Al Hanson, businessman Will Pundmann, and former State Representative Chet Boeke.^[8] In the general election, she defeated Democrat Mark Powell, Mayor of Arnold, Missouri, with 51% of the vote.^[9] She became the second woman elected to that post, succeeding Nancy Farmer.

Although several leaders in the Missouri Republican Party (including former Governor Matt Blunt, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, former House Speaker Rod Jetton, and former U.S. Senator Jim Talent) had indicated their support for Mitt Romney in 2008, Steelman reportedly was "leaning toward McCain again in 2008."^{[citation needed]}

Steelman was the first major convert^[10] to "Divest Terror", a Terror-free investing strategy of the Center for Security Policy that enjoys some national following. As Steelman implements it, the program invests in funds that divest assets in North Korea, Iran, Syria, and Sudan.^[11] In her capacity as an ex-officio board member of a pension system for Missouri government workers, she requested similar divestments from countries on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list.^[12] However, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Steelman's personal investments failed to comply with this policy.^[13]

2008 run for Governor

Main article: Missouri gubernatorial election, 2008

On the morning of January 22, 2008, Steelman announced that she would seek a second term as State Treasurer, but changed her mind when Governor Matt Blunt announced he would not seek reelection later that same afternoon. Following Blunt's announcement, Steelman announced she would run for Governor.

Steelman ran against Republicans Kenny Hulshof, Scott Long and Jen Sievers, losing to Hulshof's 194,616 votes with her 176,847.^[14] Had she won the primary and won in the general election, she would have been Missouri's first female governor.

Steelman taught one class titled "Leadership and Changing Public Policy" in the Fall semester of 2009 at Missouri State University^[15]

2012 run for U.S. Senator

Main article: United States Senate election in Missouri, 2012

Steelman is the first Republican to file. The incumbent is Democrat Claire McCaskill, who is running for her second term. Steelman will face U.S. 2nd district Congressman Todd Akin in the August 2012 primary. Akin officially declared his candidacy May 17, 2011. St. Louis businessman John Brunner is also seen as a likely opponent in the primary, but has yet to officially file to run.^[16]

References

1. ^ Zernike, Kate (2008-05-18). "She Just Might Be President Someday". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/weekinreview/18zernike.html. 
2. ^ "Sarah Steelman for U.S. Senate 2012". sarahsteelman.com. November 29, 2010. http://sarahsteelman.com/component/content/article/34-annoucements/52-steelman-for-us-sentate.html. Retrieved December 1, 2010. 
3. ^ "Website Disabled". Hearnegreen.com. http://www.hearnegreen.com/DynamicAttorneys.shtml?wldpid=2365265_1&mailpagename=ObfuscatedForm&p=yes. Retrieved 2011-06-28. 
4. ^ Official Manual State of Missouri 2001-2002. Matt Blunt, Secretary of State. p. 136. 
5. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=383831
6. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=339460
7. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=6762
8. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=50839
9. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=50842
10. ^ Jonathan Alter. "Before We Bomb Iran...". Newsweek, October 22, 2007.
11. ^ Sue Asci. "'Terror-free' investing draws public pension plans". InvestmentNews, October 15, 2007.
12. ^ Jason Rosenbaum. "50 Years of Investing". Columbia Tribune, October 6, 2007.
13. ^ Jake Wagman. "Steelman owned stocks she spurned". St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2010.
14. ^ "Official Election Returns, State of Missouri August 2008 Primary Election, Tuesday, August 05, 2008". Missouri Secretary of State. August 21, 2008. http://www.sos.mo.gov/enrweb/statewideresults.asp?arc=1&eid=195. Retrieved October 21, 2010. 
15. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
16. ^ "Todd Akin announces Missouri Senate bid". RollCall.com. 2011-05-17. http://www.rollcall.com/news/todd_akin_announces_missouri_senate_bid-205681-1.html. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 

External links

• Sarah Steelman for U.S. Senate 2012 – current campaign website
• Sarah Steelman for Governor archived campaign website
• Project Vote Smart - Sarah Steelman (MO) profile
• Follow the Money - Sarah Steelman
  • 2008 Governor campaign contributions
  • 2006 2004 State Treasurer campaign contributions
  • 2002 2000 1998 U.S. Senate campaign contributions

Political offices
Preceded by Nancy Farmer	Missouri State Treasurer 2005–2009	Succeeded by Clint Zweifel

Persondata
Name	Steelman, Sarah
Alternative names
Short description	Politician, State Treasurer of Missouri
Date of birth	May 3, 1958
Place of birth	Jefferson City, Missouri, USA
Date of death
Place of death