Sarah Steelman (born Sarah Hearne; May 3, 1958) is an American Republican politician from

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and State Treasurer from 2005 to 2009. She is currently serving in the Office of Administration in

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Mike Parson Michael Lynn Parson (born September 17, 1955) is an American politician serving as the 57th governor of Missouri since 2018. A member of the Republican Party, Parson served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011 and in the ...

’s administration. She did not run for re-election as state treasurer in 2008, having run for Governor, and was succeeded in office by Democrat

Clint Zweifel Clint Zweifel (born November 3, 1973), is an American politician and businessman who served as the State Treasurer of Missouri from 2009 to 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party and the most recent member of the party to hold that offic ...

on January 12, 2009. She was listed in a 2008 article in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as among seventeen women who may someday run for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

. On November 29, 2010, Steelman announced she would run for the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

in 2012. She was defeated in the Republican primary by U.S. Representative

Todd Akin William Todd Akin (July 5, 1947 – October 3, 2021) was an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2001 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republ ...

Early life, education, and economics career

Sarah Steelman is the second wife of David Steelman, former Republican Leader in the Missouri House. Her father, John Hearne, is a senior partner in the Jefferson City law firm of Hearne and Green. Her father-in-law is the late Dorman Steelman, a former chairman of the Missouri Republican Party. She attended Jefferson City public schools before attending

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded ...

, from where she holds a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in History and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

degree in Economics. Prior to her election in 1998, Steelman served as deputy director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. She also worked as an economist for the Missouri Department of Revenue and as an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the gener ...

of Economics at Lincoln University of Missouri in

Jefferson City Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the princip ...

Political career

State Senate

In 1998, Steelman ran against incumbent Democratic State Senator Michael Lybyer, a popular incumbent who was running for a fifth term. In his previous re-election campaign in 1994, Lybyer defeated State Representative Merrill Townley with 55% of the vote, despite the national Republican wave that year. However, in 1998, Steelman defeated Lybyer by a 58% to 42% margin. Steelman represented Callaway,

Osage The Osage Nation, a Native American tribe in the United States, is the source of most other terms containing the word "osage". Osage can also refer to: * Osage language, a Dhaegin language traditionally spoken by the Osage Nation * Osage (Unicode ...

, Gasconade, Maries,

Phelps Phelps may refer to: Places in the United States * Phelps, Kentucky * Phelps, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Phelps, New York ** Phelps (village), New York * Phelps, Wisconsin, a town ** Phelps (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated co ...

, Crawford,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and Dent counties. In 2002, she won re-election with 71% of the vote. Steelman endorsed John McCain for president in 2000, and briefly considered running for the

in November 2002 against Senator Jean Carnahan, but instead she opted to run for re-election to her seat in the state Senate.

State Treasurer

In 2004, Steelman ran for

State Treasurer of Missouri State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * '' State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

. In the Republican primary, she won a plurality of vote (39%) and defeated State Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer, businessman Tom Klein, State Senator Anita Yeckel, Chaplain Al Hanson, businessman Will Pundmann, and former State Representative Chet Boeke. In the general election, she defeated Democrat Mark Powell, Mayor of Arnold, Missouri, with 51% of the vote. She became the second woman elected to that post, succeeding Nancy Farmer. Although several leaders in the Missouri Republican Party (including former Governor

Matt Blunt Matthew Roy Blunt (born November 20, 1970) is an American former naval officer and politician who served as the 54th Governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2009. Before his election as governor, Blunt served ten years in the United States Navy, was e ...

, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, former House Speaker

Rod Jetton Rod Jetton (born September 9, 1967) is an American politician, author, and businessman. He was a Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives who represented Missouri's 156th District from 2001 to 2009 and was Speaker of the Misso ...

, and former U.S. Senator

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 Republican and resided in the St. Louis area while serving in elected office. After serving for eight years ...

) had indicated their support for

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusett ...

in 2008, Steelman reportedly was "leaning toward McCain again in 2008." Steelman was the first major convert to "Divest Terror", a

Terror-free investing Terror-free investing describes an investment strategy which seeks to maximize financial return while assuring investors that the financial instruments in the portfolio are "terror-free". The Center for Security Policy, a Washington-based neoconse ...

strategy of the

Center for Security Policy The Center for Security Policy (CSP) is a US far-right, anti-Muslim, Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The organization's founder and current president is Frank Gaffney Jr. who is known for promoting falsehoods about former U.S. President ...

that enjoys some national following. As Steelman implements it, the program invests in funds that divest assets in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

, Syria, and Sudan. In her capacity as an '' ex officio'' board member of a

pension system A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic paymen ...

for Missouri government workers, she requested similar divestments from countries on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. However, the '' St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' reported that Steelman's personal investments failed to comply with this policy.

2008 run for Governor

On the morning of January 22, 2008, Steelman announced that she would seek a second term as state treasurer, but changed her mind when Governor

announced he would not seek reelection later that same afternoon. Following Blunt's announcement, Steelman announced she would run for governor. Steelman ran against Republicans

Kenny Hulshof Kenneth C. "Kenny" Hulshof (; born May 22, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who represented in the United States House of Representatives. He was the unsuccessful nominee of the Republican Party for Governor of Missouri in the 2008 elec ...

, Scott Long and Jen Sievers, losing to Hulshof's 194,616 votes with her 176,847. Steelman taught a class titled "Leadership and Changing Public Policy" during the Fall 2009 semester at

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

2012 run for U.S. Senate

Steelman was the first Republican to file. The incumbent, Democrat

Claire McCaskill Claire Conner McCaskill (; born July 24, 1953) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019 and as State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007. McCaskill is a native of Rolla, Missouri. She gr ...

, ran for her second term. Steelman faced U.S. 2nd district Congressman

and St. Louis businessman John Brunner in the August 2012 primary. Akin officially declared his candidacy May 17, 2011. Minor candidates included Mark Memoly, an Author, ATB Executive, and Retired Ford Motor Company Manager, and Mark Lodes. On July 17, 2012, Steelman's candidacy was endorsed by the former

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 ...

. Steelman lost the primary election finishing a close third with 29% of the vote, to Akin's winning 36% and Brunner's 30%. Akin lost the general election by a wide margin.