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 member of the Republican Party. After serving for eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives and then working as a lobbyist, he ran for Governor of Missouri in 2000, losing to Democrat Bob Holden. Two years later, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating Democrat Jean Carnahan in a special election to complete the term to which Carnahan's husband, Mel, had been elected posthumously in 2000. In the Democratic wave of November 2006, Talent lost his re-election bid to Claire McCaskill, 50% to 47%. Talent, a senior adviser to Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign, served as a member of Romney's 2012 economic policy team during the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign. Talent is a distinguished fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Defense Policy Board. He is also a co-chairman at Mercury, a Washington D.C. lobbying firm. Following Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election, Talent was rumored to be on the short list for United States Secretary of Defense, a position ultimately offered to James Mattis.