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Robert Lee Holden Jr. (born August 24, 1949) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of Missouri from 2001 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the Missouri state treasurer from 1993 to 2001 and represented the 136th district in the Missouri House of Representatives from 1983 to 1989. Since leaving public office, Holden has worked at Webster University, where he founded the Holden Public Policy Forum, and serves as the president and chairman of the United States Heartland China Association.
His brother, Calvin Ray Holden, is a Greene County Circuit Court judge.
In January of 1988, he announced his campaign for State Treasurer of Missouri against incumbent Republican Wendell Bailey. Holden's race was considered to be one of the few potentially competitive races for Democrats that year, and Bailey was seen as the most vulnerable Republican up that year. Holden lost by over 40,000 votes in a close contest. After this loss, Holden worked as the chief of staff to U.S. Congressman Dick Gephardt.
In 1992, Holden made another bid, and this time was successful. Holden served in the position from 1993 to 2001.
Holden suffered from low name recognition early in the race, but by late October had begun leading Talent by several points in the polls. Governor hopefuls running close race. The Springfield News-Leader. October 29, 2000. When voting began on November 7, Talent had an early lead. However, when votes from St. Louis came in around midnight, Holden took over the lead.Flory, Josh (November 8, 2000). Late returns put Holden over top. Columbia Daily Tribune. November 8, 2000. At 2:35 a.m. on November 8, the Associated Press called the race for Holden, and Talent conceded shortly after. Talent concedes governor's race to Holden. The Daily Journal. November 9, 2000. Holden's victory over Talent marked the closest election for Missouri governor since 1976 and the first election since 1924 in which neither candidate received a majority of the vote.
Holden was inaugurated as governor in January 2001. His inauguration was the most elaborate and expensive in state history. The ceremony cost $1 million, of which $125,000 was paid from state government funds. Months after, there was still a remaining debt of $417,000. Although Holden's inauguration ceremony received public financing equal to that of Missouri's previous two governors, a perception that the inauguration was overly extravagant emerged and became a theme in opposition to his administration.
Not long after his inauguration, Holden faced a challenge from the new legislature. In special elections held weeks after his inauguration, Republicans won control of the state senate. This made Holden the first governor since Phil Donnelly to face a divided legislature. (2025). 9780826215468, Univ. of Miss. Pr. ISBN 9780826215468 However, in spite of this, Holden was able to get some legislative accomplishments. Later that year, when Holden called a special session, the legislature passed a bill, which created a new prescription drug benefit for seniors. But the relationship would grow more troubled, with Holden at one point having three vetoes overridden in a year, the same number of vetoes among all Missouri governors post-Civil War.
Holden was pro-gun, but due to some negative effects that he felt proposed legislation would have on Missouri gun owners, and due to the results of a 1999 referendum, he vetoed a concealed-carry bill passed by the Missouri General Assembly. This was short-lived because his veto was overridden by both the Missouri House of Representatives and Senate and the concealed-carry bill passed into law in 2003. Several Republican legislators who had initially voted against the bill, such as Michael Gibbons of Kirkwood, switched sides to override Holden's veto.
Holden's biggest challenge arguably was the economy and spending. At various times during his administration, Holden made drastic cuts in the state's budget. This included cuts, proposed and enacted, to Medicaid, to education, and to the state government. Not helping matters, the state oversaw some 77,000 job losses in key industries due to the national recession. Holden did generally favor greater spending on state elementary and secondary education, but faced problems with raising funds. and he called the state legislature back into session after they had recessed for the year to ask for more state funding for education via raising taxes on casinos, but they refused additional spending. While wanting to raise taxes to pay for various programs, the Republican-led state legislature stymied these attempts.
Holden was a member of the National Governors Association and was elected chair of the Midwestern Governors’ Conference which led the Midwestern states’ efforts to stimulate the economy by focusing on education and research. He also chaired the Governor's Ethanol Coalition and represented fellow governors on the National Medicaid Reform Task Force.
McCaskill lost the November 2 general election to Republican Secretary of State Matt Blunt. Holden's term ended on January 10, 2005.
Previously, Holden taught political science and communications courses at Webster University. Holden is the founder and director of the Holden Public Policy Forum at Webster University. The forum describes itself as "a bi-partisan speakers series that will bring Governors, Senators, presidential candidates and private sector public policy leaders to St. Louis and the Webster University Old Post Office campus."
In 2016, Holden was appointed to the executive committee of Missouri's statewide NAACP chapter.
Holden endorsed and campaigned on behalf of Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic primaries of the 2020 United States presidential election. Holden had previously endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries of the 2008 presidential campaign and served as a Missouri co-chair and a member of the Clinton campaign's education policy task force.
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