Biography for Secretary of State
Robin Carnahan

Robin Carnahan was sworn in as Missouri’s 38th Secretary of State in January 2005. Since taking office, Secretary Carnahan has focused on providing excellent customer service, protecting investors, cutting red tape and costs for Missouri businesses and ensuring the integrity and fairness of our elections.

Carnahan was quickly recognized as one of the most effective public servants in Missouri and our nation. In 2005, the non-partisan think tank The Aspen Institute identified Carnahan as a “rising star” in American politics for her ability to work across party lines and deliver results.

As Secretary of State, Carnahan works tirelessly to crackdown on financial scams and protect Missourians from fraud. In 2009, she championed the bipartisan Senior Investor Protection Act, which is recognized as one of the toughest investor protec­tion laws in the nation and improves opportunities for seniors to recover lost savings. Carnahan also launched the Missouri Investor Protection Center and expanded educational efforts to help Missou­rians learn how to protect themselves from finan­cial fraud. And her efforts have paid off. Since taking office, Secretary Carnahan has helped tens of thousands of investors recover over $10 billion, earning her recognition as a national leader in securities law enforcement.

Through expanded use of technology, Secre­tary Carnahan has dramatically increased efficien­cy and cut red tape and costs for Missouri’s small businesses. Since taking office, these innovations have saved Missouri businesses more than $10 million and countless tax dollars. Carnahan’s Red Tape Reduction Act, which passed with bipartisan support in 2009, cuts government paperwork in half and reduces costs for thousands of Missouri businesses. And Carnahan led the effort to devel­op the Missouri Business Portal, which provides an online one-stop-shop for those looking to do business in Missouri.

Secretary Carnahan believes good customer service means making information more acces­sible to Missourians. As the guardian of Missouri’s State Archives, she has not only ensured the pres­ervation of historical documents and treasures, but also expanded access to those records by making tens of thousands of records available on-line for the first time. These pioneering efforts have earned praise from historians and genealo­gists worldwide.

In 2008, Carnahan unveiled the Missouri Digital Heritage website, which digitally links historical information and resources from the Mis­souri State Archives, the State Library, and local organizations together for the first time. Since its launch, Missouri Digital Heritage has been named one of the 101 best websites for genealogy by Family Tree Magazine and has been visited over 70 million times.

As the state’s chief elections official, Secretary Carnahan is dedicated to ensuring integrity and fairness in Missouri elections. Since taking office, she has partnered with local election officials to clean up Missouri’s voter rolls by establishing the state’s first statewide voter registration list and improved election day operations by recruiting and training additional poll workers.

Since 2007, Missourians who need protection from domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking have had access to the Safe at Home address confidentiality program designed by Secretary Carnahan to help prevent future attacks. To date, Safe at Home has helped protect more than 700 women, men and children in the state of Missouri.

Secretary Carnahan grew up in Rolla, Missouri, and is a member of the Baptist Church. After graduating from Rolla High School, she continued her studies at William Jewell College and at the University of Southampton and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, graduating magna cum laude. Carnahan went on to earn her law degree from the University of Virginia and then returned to Missouri to practice business law with the St. Louis law firm of Thompson & Mitchell.

In 1990, Carnahan went to work with the National Democratic Institute in Central and Eastern Europe, where she worked to promote democracy and fair elections. Carnahan also served at the Export-Import Bank of the United States, where she explored innovative ways to help American companies increase their sales of goods and services abroad.

Today, in addition to carrying out her duties as Secretary of State, Carnahan continues to manage her family’s 900 acre Angus cattle farm near Rolla. Her husband, Juan Carlos Antolinez, develops and maintains business computer systems.

Carnahan’s family has a proud history of devo­tion to public service. Her father, Mel Carnahan, served as Missouri’s Governor, and her mother, Jean Carnahan, was the first woman to serve Mis­souri in the U.S. Senate. Her grandfather, A.S.J. Carnahan, a congressman from south-central Missouri for 14 years, was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to be U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone.