Hanaway began volunteering for Republican campaigns in the early 1990s, and joined Senator
Kit Bond's staff in 1993 where she managed his office's operations for Northeast Missouri. In 2000, she managed President
George W. Bush's campaign operations for Missouri. After her first term in office, she was elected Republican Minority Leader in 2000. Hanaway was elected as the first female Speaker of the Missouri House shortly afterwards.
Missouri Speaker of the House During her tenure as Speaker, Catherine successfully passed Missouri's first concealed carry law by overriding a veto from Democratic Governor
Bob Holden. She also supported legislation to protect gun manufacturers from lawsuits. In addition to her pro-gun stances, she was also opposed to abortion and passed bills supported by Missouri Right-to-Life. Hanaway also rejected multiple tax increase proposals from Governor Holden as Speaker. During a 2003 budget dispute in which Holden had requested a tax increase, Hanaway publicly asked him "What part of 'No' don't you understand?" and Missouri Right to Life. In a year that Republicans carried most contested state offices, she lost to
Robin Carnahan, the daughter of former
Missouri governor Mel Carnahan. She was defeated in her home county of St. Louis by fourteen percentage points.
U.S. Attorney After the appointment of
Raymond W. Gruender to the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Hanaway was appointed
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, taking office on July 19, 2005. As the chief federal law enforcement for half of Missouri, Hanaway prosecuted over 4,000 cases. On taking office, she made a point of visiting every local prosecuting attorney in her district, the first time in over two decades that a U.S. Attorney had done so. One of Hanaway's focuses as U.S. Attorney was the prosecution of
methamphetamine manufacturers and dealers, including illegal immigrants bringing in the drug from outside of Missouri. Hanaway also focused on prosecuting child exploitation cases and government corruption. In a highly publicized case, she successfully sued nursing home chain Cathedral Rock Corp. for
Medicaid and
Medicare fraud.
2016 gubernatorial race On February 11, 2014, Hanaway announced that she was running for
Governor of Missouri in the
2016 election. She announced her candidacy after Democratic Missouri Attorney General
Chris Koster announced his, and vowed to "build the largest and best grass-roots campaign in Missouri history." She was endorsed by former U.S. Senator Kit Bond,
South Carolina Governor
Nikki Haley,
Kansas Governor
Sam Brownback, and Congresswoman
Ann Wagner. Hanaway suspended her campaign for a month after Schweich's suicide. Hanaway has been very critical of Governor
Jay Nixon's response to the
unrest in Ferguson. She feels that he was insufficiently supportive of law enforcement. She also criticized a gubernatorial rival, state Attorney General
Chris Koster, for failing to prosecute those who assaulted police officers, looted, and set fires during the unrest. Hanaway has similarly attacked the "lawlessness" at the
University of Missouri, and called for the firing of Professor
Melissa Click, who was caught on tape calling for "muscle" to be called in to prevent a student journalist from recording certain events at the
campus protests in November 2015. Click was eventually charged with assault and fired. On November 3, 2015, Hanaway launched a two-week statewide "Restore Conservative Values to Missouri Tour" in an RV nicknamed "Tiger One." The focus of the tour was supporting law enforcement, fighting abortion, and expanding Second Amendment rights. Hanaway launched a second bus tour on February 25, 2016, which she called the "Safe and Strong Tour," focusing on her prosecutorial experience and rising crime rates. Hanaway lost the Missouri Republican primary to Eric Greitens, she finished fourth with 19.95% of the popular vote.
Missouri Attorney General On August 19, 2025, Governor
Mike Kehoe announced his intention to appoint Hanaway
Attorney General of Missouri after
Andrew Bailey was named Co-Deputy director of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation. She was sworn in as Missouri's 45th Attorney General on September 8, 2025, and is the first woman to serve in this position and the third consecutive officeholder to begin her tenure by appointment rather than by election. ==Electoral history==