About Jim Talent
James Matthes Talent (born October 18, 1956) is an American politician who was a U.S. senator from Missouri from 2002 to 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party. After serving for eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives and then working as a lobbyist, he ran for Governor of Missouri in 2000, losing to Democrat Bob Holden. Two years later, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating Democrat Jean Carnahan in a special election to complete the term to which Carnahan's husband, Mel, had been elected posthumously in 2000. In the Democratic wave of November 2006, Talent lost his re-election bid to Claire McCaskill, 50% to 47%. Talent, a senior adviser to Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign, served as a member of Romney's 2012 economic policy team during the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign. Talent is a distinguished fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Defense Policy Board. He is also a co-chairman at Mercury, a Washington D.C. lobbying firm. Following Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election, Talent was rumored to be on the short list for United States Secretary of Defense, a position ultimately offered to James Mattis. Although Talent won narrowly in 1992, he never had another close race in what became a solidly Republican district. Even though popular Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan won the district in his concurrent election, Talent won the rematch with 61% of the vote. Bush and won the Republican nomination for the state's 2nd Congressional District, based in St. Talent's interfaith family did not attend religious services, and later in life Talent became a member of the Presbyterian Church in America.
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