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WASHINGTON — Rep. Todd Akin defiantly turned his back on pleas from Republican leaders — including Mitt Romney — to drop out of the Senate race in Missouri by last night’s deadline after his comments about rape victims put his once front-runner campaign in jeopardy.
Akin insisted that he will forge on in his campaign to defeat Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), once considered the most vulnerable Senate candidate in the nation, whose seat is key in Republican hopes to win back control of the chamber.
“I misspoke one word in one sentence in one day, and everything changed,” Akin said yesterday on former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s radio show. “I haven’t done anything morally or ethically wrong. It does seem like a little bit of an overreaction.”
The six-term congressman said in a Sunday television interview that “if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.” The comment has sparked a nationwide furor and GOP calls for Akin to drop out of the race.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee pulled $5 million in campaign ads it had scheduled to help Akin.
Akin had until 5 p.m. yesterday to get out of the race and allow GOP leaders to easily name a replacement. To withdraw now, he would need a court order to take his name off the ballot before Sept. 25. After that deadline, Akin’s name will remain on the ballot even if he withdraws.
Five more Republican senators, including Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), yesterday called for Akin to withdraw from the race. Former Missouri senators John Ashcroft, Kit Bond, John Danforth and Jim Talent also urged him to pass the torch to a fellow GOPer.
“Today his fellow Missourians urged him to step aside, and I think he should accept their counsel and exit the Senate race,” Romney said.
Republicans need to have a net gain of four seats in November to retake control of the Senate, a hope that’s now in greater jeopardy. Akin was leading McCaskill in polls by up to 5 percentage points before he sparked the major campaign controversy.
“It’s hard to see how Republicans win the majority without Missouri,” said Jennifer Duffy, who tracks the Senate for the Cook Political Report. “This race should have been the equivalent of an easy putt.”
Akin released an ad yesterday called “Forgiveness” in which he made a direct appeal to Missouri voters. “The mistake I made was in the words I said, not in the heart I hold. I ask for your forgiveness,” Akin said.
But the staunchest Republicans refuse to forgive Akin, saying they will cut off the lifeblood to his campaign: money. Super PACs American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, which have already spent $5 million helping Akin, said they’re ending their support.
“If he remains the nominee, there’s no reason to throw good money after bad by trying to win this seat,” Karl Rove, American Crossroads co-founder, said Tuesday on Fox News. “This is one of those unfortunate things that’s so bad, so deplorable, so out of touch that there’s no way to recover, in my opinion, from it.”