92nd 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, as
well as the South Grand and Cherokee Street/Antique Row business districts.
Elected
to the House in November 2000, he was appointed Deputy Majority Whip and vice
chairman of the Civil and Administrative Law Committee. He organized and chairs
the City of St. Louis Caucus and was appointed to the statutory Mississippi
River Parkway Commission and the State Courts Automation Committee. In 2002, he received the St. Louis Regional
Chamber of Commerce & Growth Association Lewis & Clark Statesman Award,
the St. Louis Business Journal 2002 Legislative Award and the Missouri Bar 2002
Legislative Award.
Upon
being elected to his second tern, Rep. Carnahan was selected for a new
leadership role as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. In addition, Rep. Carnahan was appointed to
the newly formed statutory Joint Committee on Terrorism, Bio-terrorism and
Homeland Security.
Rep.
Carnahan has been a member of many civic and community organizations including:
St. Louis Ambassadors; 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; 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 former First Lady and U.S. Senator, Jean
Carnahan. His grandfather, A.S.J.
Carnahan, was a member of Congress and the first U.S. Ambassador to Sierra
Leone, Africa.
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 doctor in 1983 from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law.
Born
July 10, 1958 in Columbia, Mo., Rep. Carnahan lives in St. Louis with his wife,
Debra A. Carnahan, a judge in the St. Louis Municipal Court. They have two children: Austin and Andrew.