- Pritzker Fellows
- Former Fellows
- Claire McCaskill
Claire McCaskill
Former U.S. Senator from Missouri
Biography
Claire McCaskill has spent her career as a prosecutor and elected official devoted to public service and earned a reputation in the U.S. Senate as a plain-spoken, independent, and effective champion for Missourians and all Americans.
Born and raised in the Show-Me state, Claire attended college and law school at the University of Missouri and began her career as an assistant prosecutor in Kansas City, specializing in prosecuting arsons and sex crimes.
Claire was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives, and made history when she became the first woman elected Jackson County prosecutor, where she launched one of the nation’s first drug courts and established a first-of-its-kind domestic violence unit. Claire continued raising the level of accountability in Missouri as the state’s Auditor, and later took on her own party establishment, becoming the first person to ever defeat a sitting Missouri Governor in a primary election.
In 2006, Claire became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri - winning the seat once held by Harry Truman - and was resoundingly re-elected in 2012.
Claire’s background as a prosecutor and auditor deeply informed her work in the Senate, where she championed a six-year-long battle to rein in wasteful wartime contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan and addressed tens of billions of wasted taxpayer dollars. She fought to curb sexual assault in the military and on college and university campuses, and led a historic, bipartisan investigation into online sex trafficking on the website Backpage and passed legislation to give law enforcement tools to prosecute websites like it.
Claire launched the largest congressional investigation into the business practices of opioid manufacturers and worked across the aisle to pass legislation to lower the price of prescription drugs. The daughter of a World War II veteran, she fought tirelessly for vets, including passing into law a bill to deliver decades-old relief to veterans who were exposed to mustard gas during World War II. Known for her work on behalf of consumers, Claire spearheaded efforts to improve consumer protections against robocalls, recalled vehicles, and sky-high cable bills. Always one to seek out the concerns of her constituents, Claire was known as the “town hall Senator,” after holding more than 50 town halls in one year in every corner of rural Missouri.
Claire and her husband Joseph live in St. Louis and have a blended family of seven children and eleven (soon to be twelve!) grandchildren.
Seminars
“Having the Blues in a Red Place”
Claire McCaskill notes on her Twitter site her new normal after losing her third bid for the U.S. Senate last fall: “Former bunch of stuff.” Those mere four words really represent a nearly 40-year career in public service including: two terms as Missouri’s first woman Senator elected in her own right; stints as state auditor, county prosecutor and state representative; as well as an election win/loss record of 22-2 in an ever-redder state. Recently tapped to join NBC and MSNBC as a political analyst because of her smart, witty and brazenly frank insight; she comes to the IOP with a newfound freedom to speak her mind - even more than usual - about the changes she has seen and the nation’s path forward she craves. Her recent “The Daily” podcast interview, offers a great glimpse of where her head is now.
Two of McCaskill’s longtime campaign consultants will join her to discuss the strategy behind her three elections wins since 2004 in the increasingly red state of Missouri, as well as takeaways from the fall loss.
Special Guests: David Dixon of Dixon Davis Media Group & Mike Muir of Ambrosino, Muir, Hansen and Crounse
McCaskill’s former Senate colleagues from conservative states - including presidential possible U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown - will join McCaskill by Skype for this session. These colleagues, who won and lost their red states, offer their take on what the midterm elections showed us and what the next round of candidates need to think through.
Special Guest: U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
In her 12 years in the Senate, McCaskill employed several different strategies to get things done, despite the ever-growing legislative gridlock she faced. Her creativity forced quick changes in long-held bureaucratic systems without the need for legislation. These efforts reassured even the most conservative Missourians about her true priorities.
With each campaign, McCaskill and her family faced escalating media scrutiny and disturbing changes in how the media covered her work. She’ll talk with Jonathan Martin, national political correspondent for The New York Times, about political coverage trends. Does investigative journalism still exist in campaigns or is it just an opposition research dump? Does the pressure of viral content impact a reporter’s daily decisions on what to cover and how to report it?
Special Guest: Jonathan Martin, National Political Correspondent with The New York Times