OUT OF HER MISSOURI
Could the funniest US senatorial election be Missouri’s 2000 race? Though I also have a soft spot for the paedo Republican losing Alabama of all places. Anyway, Missouri 2K was a squaring off of two incumbents in what was then a key swing state – Republican Senator John Ashcroft was defending his seat in a tight race against Democrat Governor Mel Carnahan. The ultimate October surprise arrived when Carnahan died in a plane crash days after the deadline for him to be removed from the ballot. The rush of sympathy proved too much for Ashcroft to overcome, and Michael Moore later remarked that Ashcroft needed a stack of Bibles when he was sworn in as Dubya’s attorney general, as when you lose to a dead guy you need all the help you can get. Carnahan’s widow, Jean, filled the seat, and although she narrowly lost the special election to properly fill out the term two years later, the election that propelled her into brief office still manages to make her more memorable than some senators who served for decades. She was 90 and a unique for Dying Donkeys.
Jean Carnahan
20 December 1933 – 30 January 2024, aged 90
💀💀💀💀💀 + 👻 = 9 POINTS