Get to Know Your Congressman

Name: John Russell “Russ” Carnahan

Born: July 10, 1958

Party: Democrat

District: Missouri’s Third District

Committee Assignments: Transportation and Infrastructure, Science and Technology, Foreign Affairs

Website: www.carnahan.house.gov

If you have any interest in politics, you should know your Representative in the United States Congress. If you’re registered to vote from your WashU school address (which, again, you probably should), that man is Russ Carnahan, third-term Representative of Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District.

The 3rd District, which stetches from just north of WashU’s campus well into South County, is a bit of a politically divided district. While the areas in St. Louis and the surrounding suburbs are safely in Democratic territory, the smaller cities to the south of town are brimming with the kind of small-town “real” American ideals you’d find plastered on signs at a Tea Party rally.

With these demographics, you might expect the seat to be held by a political moderate who could tap into both camps. Russ Carnahan does not fit that description.

Congressman Carnahan is about as middle-of-the-road-Democrat as you can get. Like all Representatives, he has a few issues about which he is particularly passionate, but by and large he seems to stick to the Democratic party talking points. He lacks the active, tactile socialability that one comes to expect from continously campaigning politicians, substituting instead a quiet, easy-going, and even slightly awkward conversational style that probably resonates more with residents of Miss-uhr-RAH.

The few issues on which he distinguishes himself are largely uncontroversial policies that are important, but unlikely to make much of a splash beyond the local news. For example, he is an avid supporter of the railroad industry and trains in general, and helped to secure federal funding for forthcoming Loop Trolley. He has also sponsored or actively supported legislation to preserve historical sites, increase the energy efficiency of new buildings, and reach out to Serbia. Aside from the violent shouting match that broke out at one of his health care town halls a year ago, he is not the kind of person to attract much political excitement.

If you follow Missouri state politics much, you may know that Congressman Carnahan’s sister Robin is Missouri’s Secretary of State. She is also the current Democratic nominee for Missouri’s next open Senate seat in the upcoming election this November. As a matter of fact, the Carnahan family is a bit of an institution in politics for the state: Russ’s father Mel Carnahan was Governor of Missouri for several years. When Mel was running for the U.S. Senate, he passed away in a plane crash. He was posthumously elected to the seat, to which his wife was appointed. What’s more, Mel’s own father was also represented Missouri in the United States Congress many years ago.

This last summer, I was joined by fellow WUPR contributor Tripp Brockway as we interned at Congressman Carnahan’s DC office. In between the menial errands and the seemingly constant accusations of communist plotting that so many constituents called in to share, we actually had a fairly good opportunity to explore and study the working process of both Rep. Carnahan and Congress as a whole.  While the result wasn’t terribly inspiring, I’ve still got to say that The Glass Is Half Full.

Rep. Carnahan, and others like him in the House (and Senate), represent a kind of ballast in the legislative process. For every screaming partisan touring the talk show circuit, there are ten people like ole’ Russ who toil through the necessary tedium of lawmaking to gently nudge along prosperity and fill the time on CSPAN’s broadcast schedule. While he is far from the essential lawgiver of our age, he is certainly not bad, and I am perfectly contented to call him my Congressman.