I always wondered how liberal Democrats managed to hold on to that seat for so long.
Russ Carnahan, son of Mel and the widow, won the seat in 2004. After the last census, they gerrymandered the district to include more of the liberal urban area, and less of the southeat Missouri area. Of course, I think he still would have won. For some reason, that name is still golden in Missouri.
Actually, Mel was not a bad governor, but the key to a decent Democrat is keeping them away from those sharks in Washington. I'm sure had Mel lived and won the Senate seat, he would have become like another Dick Durbin.