Former member of Congress · last served 109th Congress

Jim Talent

REPUBLICAN U.S. Senator · MissouriSenate 2002–2007 · House 1993–2001 (MO-2)

Jim Talent was a Republican U.S. senator from Missouri, first elected to Congress in 1993, who sponsored 8 bills that became law (103rd–109th Congress).

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172Bills & resolutions sponsored103rd–109th Congress (excludes amendments)

29Passed a chamberof 172 bills & resolutions sponsored

8Became law6 substantive + 1 ceremonial + 1 private · 103rd–109th Congress

—Broke with partyNo roll calls in PORKER’s records (they start in 2011)

—Missed votesNo roll calls in PORKER’s records (they start in 2011)

—Pork: own shareFY2024 earmarks: not in office

How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.

Recent votes

No recorded roll-call votes in PORKER’s records. Roll-call records start in 2011.

5 most recent bills

S. 1378 National Historic Preservation Act Amendments Act of 2006
Dec 22, 2006 · Became Public Law No: 109-453.
S. 4073 A bill to designate the outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs located in Farmington, Missouri, as the "Robert Silvey Department of Veterans…
Dec 18, 2006 · Became Public Law No: 109-414.
S. 3862 A bill to amend the Animal Health Protection Act to prohibit the Secretary of Agriculture from implementing or carrying out a National Animal Identification…
Sep 7, 2006 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
S. 3824 National Park System Uniform Penalty Amendment Act
Aug 3, 2006 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
S. 3817 Match Act of 2006
Aug 3, 2006 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Top bills sponsored

Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.

Elections Sen. Talent has won

Sen. Talent has won 4 U.S. House elections (1992–1998) and 1 U.S. Senate election (2002). Of the contested races, margins ran from 1.1 to 41.7 points.

Democratic winRepublican winseat changed partyunopposed

Elections won5 in the data (1976–2024); losses are not listed

Closest win: 1.1 points2002, MO Senate

Won an open seat or took one from the other party1 of 5 elections (open seat or changed party)

Seat history, Missouri’s 2nd districtWinners, most recent three: James Talent (R) 1992–1998 → W. Todd Akin (R) 2000–2010 → Ann Wagner (R) 2012–2024. Elections shown, not terms; special elections not included.

Seat history, Missouri Senate (class None)Winners in regular elections, most recent three: .

Full election history for this seat →

Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.

How has Missouri done while Sen. Talent served?

2005 to 2006 in Missouri: typical household income was about the same after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was about the same, and the share of workers looking for a job was down 0.4 points.

Typical household income · after inflation

Missouri: $67.8K in 2005 → $67.0K in 2006

Missouri about the sameU.S. up 1%

Share of people below the poverty line

Missouri: 13.3% in 2005 → 13.6% in 2006

Missouri about the sameU.S. about the same

Share of workers looking for a job

Missouri: 6.7% in 2005 → 6.3% in 2006

Missouri down 0.4 pointsU.S. down 0.5 points

Each mini chart has its own scale, fitted to its lines (it does not start at zero), so compare the numbers, not the heights. Oxblood = state, grey = U.S.

While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Missouri during Talent’s time representing it (2002 to 2007). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.

Survey years start at 2005. The yearly estimates for Missouri begin in 2005, so 2002 to 2004 are not shown. No 2020 yearly estimate exists.

See the full 20-year record →Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates (tables B19013, B17001, B23001) and BLS CPI-U-RS for inflation, retrieved October 18, 2026. “About the same” means the change is inside the 90% margins of error. Who held the seat: Congress.gov member service records, year level.

Official records on bills this member sponsored

109th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 76 bills sponsored.

Record	Bills	Source
Bills sponsored	76	Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them →
With a CBO cost estimate listed	3	See the 3 →
With a committee report listed	2	See the 2 →
With a Congress.gov note	2	See the 2 →

Evidence

How counted: Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 109th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
Fields: cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
PORKER copy refreshed: October 26, 2026 (nightly)

Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.

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Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.