Ashcroft discourages challenge

U.S. Senator John Ashcroft says the race is over, and he’s lost. Ashcroft gave his concession speech this afternoon at campaign headquarters in St. Louis. He lost to the late Governor Mel Carnahan in the wee hours of this morning. Ashcroft put his campaign on hold for a week after Carnahan was killed in a plane crash, and he says it was the right thing to do. Some have questioned the legality of this election, since Carnahan is no longer alive, but Ashcroft is discouraging any legal challenge to the results. Jean Carnahan now gets the appointment to the Senate seat, and her term will run until the next general election in November of 2002. For more detailed election returns, see the Missouri secretary of state’s website at http://sosweb.sos.state.mo.us/enrweb/.