President and was considered a possible running mate, had Muskie won the nomination. Post-gubernatorial career After leaving office Hearnes was plagued with tax problems which were ultimately cleared in 1977. His problems were highlighted by an exposé in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Hearnes sued the paper for defamation and the case was ultimately settled with terms undisclosed. After facing public pressure to appoint a special counsel during the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon considered either Hearnes or Pat Brown for the role. Attorney General Elliot Richardson rejected both options, and ultimately appointed Archibald Cox. Hearnes ran for United States 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 en route to a primary election victory party on August 3. On August 21, the Democratic state committee selected Hearnes as the replacement nominee over Jim Spainhower by a 38 to 22 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. Legacy In 1972, the Hearnes Center on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia, Missouri, was named in honor of the outgoing governor. 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 the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries Hearnes endorsed the campaign of Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. In 2010, a bust of Hearnes sculpted by Sabra Tull Meyer was dedicated outside the Mississippi County Courthouse in Charleston, Missouri. Later that year he was also inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians; his bronze bust is displayed in the state capitol. In December