Warren E. Hearnes - Post Gubernatorial Career

Post Gubernatorial Career

After leaving office Hearnes was plagued with tax problems which were ultimately cleared in 1977. His problems were highlighted by an expose in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Hearnes sued the paper for defamation and the case was ultimately settled with terms undisclosed.

He made three unsuccessful runs for office between 1976 and 1980.

Hearnes ran for United State Senate in 1976. He placed second in the primary with 26.9 percent of the vote. The winner, Jerry Litton, had 45.4%, but was killed in a plane crash enroute to a primary election victory party on August 3. In a new primary on August 21 Hearnes defeated Jim Spainhower with 60.8% of the vote. Hearnes lost the general election to John Danforth who garnered 56.9% of the vote.

In 1978 he ran unsuccessfully for Missouri state auditor, losing the general election to Republican James F. Antonio, who received 50.8% of the vote. His wife, Betty Cooper Hearnes, began her own political career as a state representative in 1979, serving until 1988. She also was the 1988 Democratic nominee for governor.

In 1980, Hearnes was appointed Circuit Court Judge, making him the first person in Missouri history to serve in all three branches of the state government. However he failed to be elected to the position in the same year.

He was executive director of Southeast Missouri Legal Services from 1981 until 1997.

In 2005, Warren and Betty Hearnes were awarded the Edwin P. Hubble Medal of Initiative during the Charleston Dogwood-Azalea Festival. The medal was presented by a delegation of citizens from Marshfield, Missouri. The medal is the city of Marshfield's highest honor and is named for a native son. In 2008 the Hearnes endorsed the campaign of Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

He died August 16, 2009. Gov Hearnes is buried in IOOF Cemetery in Charleston, Missouri along with his daughter, Lynn Cooper Hearnes, who was killed in an auto accident on December 31, 2009 only a few months after the death of her father.