Jo Ann Emerson

Jo Ann Emerson (b. September 16, 1950) is a politician from the U.S. State of Missouri.

Emerson was born in Bethesda, Maryland and she graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University. She married then-lobbyist and future congressman Bill Emerson in 1975. Bill was elected to Congress in 1980 and he died of cancer on June 22, 1996. Jo Ann decided to run for the House of Representatives after Bill's death, but Missouri state law prohibited her from filing to run in the Republican primary. Emerson filed to run as an Independent with the support of the Republican party. Emerson faced Democrat Emily Firebaugh and Republican Richard Kline in the election and she won the election with 50% of the vote. Emerson has served in Congress as a Republican and she has won re-election without difficulty. In 2002, Emerson rejected calls for her to run for US Senate against fellow political widow Jean Carnahan.