91st General Assembly
Rep.
Russ Carnahan, a Democrat, represents part of St. Louis City (District 59) in
the Missouri House of Representatives. His riverfront district includes the
near south side of St. Louis, with many historic neighborhoods and parks, the
South Grand and Cherokee Street/Antique Row business districts.
Elected
to the House in November 2000, he serves in the House leadership as Deputy
Majority Whip and vice chairman of the Civil and Administrative Law Committee.
He organized and chairs the City of St. Louis Caucus. He is also a member of
the statutory Mississippi River Parkway Commission and the State Courts
Automation Committee.
Rep.
Carnahan is an attorney in the health care field. He was previously engaged in a general trial and appellate law
practice in St. Louis and Rolla from 1988-1996. Prior to that he served as
counsel to the House Majority Leader from 1985-1988, and assistant to the
Speaker of the Missouri House in 1981.
He also worked as a legislative intern in the Missouri House in 1978.
Rep.
Carnahan has been a member of many civic and community organizations including:
St. Louis Ambassadors, Historic Preservation Committee; United Way of Greater
St. Louis, Government Relations Committee; St. Louis Regional Commerce and
Growth Association (RCGA), Public Policy Committee; and FOCUS Leadership St.
Louis, Class of 1997-98. He is a
supporter or member of Metropolis St. Louis; State Historical Society of Missouri;
Landmarks Association of St. Louis; Compton Heights Neighborhood Association;
Missouri Bar, Advisory Committee on Citizenship Education and Health Care Law
Committee, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Speakers Bureau for Law
Related Education; Boy Scouts, current supporter and past Eagle Scout
recipient; and Friends of Tower Grove Park, Missouri Botanical Gardens and
DeMenil Mansion.
Rep.
Carnahan attends Lafayette Park United Methodist Church. He is the son of the
late Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan and Jean Carnahan, a United States
Senator. His grandfather, A.S.J.
Carnahan, was a member of Congress and the first U.S. Ambassador to Sierra
Leone.
A
1976 graduate of Rolla High School, Rep. Carnahan attended the University of
Missouri-Rolla from 1976-1977 and Richmond College in London, England in
1978. He received a bachelor of science
degree in public administration with an emphasis in public service in 1979 and
a juris doctorate in 1983 from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Born
July 10, 1958 in Columbia, Mo., Rep. Carnahan lives in St. Louis with his wife,
Debra A. Carnahan. They have two
children: Austin and Andrew.