2000 United States Senate election in Missouri  The 2000 United States Senate election in Missouri was held on November 7, 2000, to select the next U.S. Senator from Missouri. Incumbent Republican Senator John Ashcroft ran for reelection to a second term, but was defeated by Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan, despite Carnahan's death three weeks before election day. In 1998, freshman Senator John Ashcroft (R) briefly considered running for president. On January 5, 1999, he announced that he would not seek the presidency and would instead seek a second Senate term in the 2000 election. Incumbent two-term Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan ran against Ashcroft. In the general election for the state's seat in the U.S. Senate, Ashcroft was facing then-Governor Mel Carnahan in a highly competitive race, despite the Senator having a larger budget than Carnahan, a war chest that included significant contributions from corporations such as Monsanto Company, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, which gave five times more to Ashcroft's campaign fund than to the fund of any other congressional hopeful at the time. Carnahan was killed in a plane crash three weeks before the November election date. Nonetheless, Carnahan's name remained on the ballot due to Missouri's election laws. Lieutenant Governor Roger B. Wilson became Governor upon Carnahan's death, to serve the remaining term of Carnahan's governorship. Ashcroft suspended all campaigning on the day of the plane crash in light of the tragedy and resumed it eight days before the election date. The voters of Missouri, by a margin of approximately fifty thousand votes, chose for the U.S. Senate Mel Carnahan, their Governor who had died three weeks before the election. No one had ever posthumously won election to the Senate, though voters on at least three other occasions had until then chosen deceased candidates for the House of Representatives: Clement Woodnutt Miller (D) in California in 1962; Nick Begich (D) in Alaska, 1972; and Hale Boggs (D) in Louisiana, 1972. Hence, John Ashcroft became the first ever U.S. Senate candidate, incumbent or otherwise, to be defeated by a dead person. Governor Roger B. Wilson appointed Carnahan's 66-year-old widow, Jean Carnahan, to a two-year term as Missouri Senator. Ashcroft stated that he hoped the appointment would be "a matter of comfort for Mrs. Carnahan." Asked by the media whether he would ever seek office again, Ashcroft responded, "The last thing I want to do is think about running for public office again."