successful with many voters angered at Bond's approval of rate hikes, and in what many considered an upset Teasdale was elected governor by 13,000 votes. The victory prompted CBS News anchorman Dan Rather to quip on the air "..the story in the Midwest is not Jimmy Carter, it's Walkin' Joe Teasdale!" Governor During his tenure, Teasdale fought against utility companies by appointing new members to the Missouri Public Service Commission, the state agency tasked with approving or denying rates. Teasdale also established the state's first Division of Aging, boosting funding for the Department of Mental Health, and overseeing the rewriting of numerous health laws. Teasdale also advocated strongly for the Nursing Home Reform Act and removal of sales tax on prescription drugs. He proved willing to reach across party lines as well, supporting Republican Mel Hancock's amendment to limit state taxes. Teasdale also came out strongly against the Meramec Dam project which would have greatly affected rivers in areas southwest of St. Louis. He signed legislation reinstating the death penalty in Missouri in 1977, but later regretted the decision. In 1980 Teasdale made state history by becoming the first Missouri governor in 140 years to have a veto overridden by the state legislature. He angered many in his own party by opposing the cost of constructing the Harry S. Truman state office building in Jefferson City. That anger manifested itself again in 1980 as Teasdale faced a tough Democratic primary challenge from then-State Treasurer Jim Spainhower. He was successful in defeating Spainhower but lost in the November 1980 general election against Kit Bond. Later career After leaving the governorship in early-1981, Teasdale returned to the Kansas City area and established a law practice. One of his most notable cases was representing victims and surviving family of the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse. An avid outdoorsman all his life, he often spent time on hunting and fishing trips. Teasdale largely avoided state politics after his defeat, telling one newspaper reporter in 1993 "I wanted to become a normal person again, and I really wasn't normal before. For 20 years I was completely consumed by politics." In the late 1990s, his position on capital punishment having changed, he worked to achieve clemency for David Leisure, a man convicted of murder for a 1980 car bombing in St. Louis. Personal life In 1973, Teasdale was married to the former Theresa Ferkenhoff. The couple had