Carnahan's widow to decide on Senate race by Monday

SPRINGFIELD, Missouri (CNN) -- The widow of Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan will announce Monday whether she is interested in accepting the Senate seat her husband was seeking when he died in a plane crash last week, she said Friday.

The late governor's name remains on the ballot in the Senate election because his death came too late to remove it under Missouri election law. If Carnahan gets more votes than the incumbent, Republican Sen. John Ashcroft, the state's new governor has said he will ask Jean Carnahan to serve for two years until a special election could be held.

"I would like to thank the countless people who have sent cards and letters of support and encouragement, both with regard to the recent tragedy and to the possibility that I might represent Missouri in the Senate in the event that Missourians cast their votes for my husband," Carnahan, who has never held elective office, said in a statement Friday.

She said that she would gather with her family over the weekend to discuss the possibility of serving in the Senate.

"If I decide to accept this challenge, it will be because I am ready to do this with my entire heart and soul, just as Mel did every day of his life," Carnahan said. "As I seek God's will for my life, I see each day more clearly. I still believe deeply in the cause for which my husband lived and died."

Those values, she said, are a "permanent part" of her life.

A two-term governor, Carnahan was in a neck-and-neck race with Ashcroft and considered a strong contender to help Democrats regain control of the Senate.