Jeremiah Wilson "Jay" Nixon (born February 13, 1956) is the
55th and current Governor of the
U.S. state of
Missouri. A member of the
Democratic Party, he previously served as Missouri's
Attorney General before his election in
2008. Nixon holds both an undergraduate degree and a law degree from the
University of Missouri in
Columbia.
Political career
He made his first bid for statewide office in
1988, an unsuccessful effort to oust incumbent U.S. Senator
John Danforth. Nixon was defeated by Danforth, winning 32% of the vote compared to Danforth's 68%. Nixon was first elected as Missouri's Attorney General on November 3, 1992, on a platform of fighting crime, cleaning up government corruption, and protecting consumers and the environment. Nixon followed
William L. Webster as Attorney General. The 1992 race for Attorney General between Nixon and former State House Minority Leader
David Steelman was especially heated; however Nixon beat Steelman 51% to 45%, with an unusually high 4% of the votes going to the
Libertarian Party candidate.
Nixon was re-elected as Attorney General by a wide margin in 1996, and in
1998 he again made an unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate, this time losing to incumbent Republican
Kit Bond. In 2000 and 2004 Nixon was again re-elected as Attorney General, both times by similarly wide margins.
Accomplishments as Attorney General
One of the most popular programs Nixon has implemented is the state's No Call program....
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