He said less than a week ago that he didn’t trust polls that said he was trailing in the GOP primary race for U.S. Senate. On election night, Congressman Todd Akin’s mistrust proved right. Akin received more than 217-thousand votes, to more than 180-thousand for businessman John Brunner and 176-thousand for former treasurer Sarah Steelman.
After the other two frontrunners in that race called to concede, Akin told his supporters, “Tonight, the Primary is over and tomorrow, the General Election starts.”
Akin now challenges incumbent U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill for her office. He says that campaign will be “about reclaiming our Godly values, rebuilding the American dream and restoring the America that we love.”
Akin wasted no time in returning to the themes of his campaign. That includes tying McCaskill to the Affordable Care Act. “Claire McCaskill was the deciding vote on passing Obamacare, and it’s my plan to be the deciding vote and get rid of Obamacare.”
Winner of the GOP Primary race for U.S. Senate Todd Akin (right) answers questions from Missourinet’s Mike Lear.
When asked why McCaskill’s vote should be considered “the deciding” vote, Akin says, “Well I guess that’s one of the things people talk about when somebody takes a vote, it passes by just exactly that vote, you could say that anybody in a sense is a deciding vote. That may or may not be … you could always argue, ‘Well, but if she voted another way they would have turned some other vote,” so it’s one of those … but in this case it was passed by one vote and she was the vote.”
Throughout the primary campaign, Akin touted his standing as the most conservative among himself, Brunner and Steelman. His son and campaign manager, Perry Akin, says that message won’t change now that the focus shifts to November and McCaskill. “That’s been his message from the beginning. He has a clear voting record. He’s been very clear on the campaign trail, articulating where he stands and what he sees that needs to be changed in Washington.”
Akin also continues to credit his endorsement from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as helping to propel him during the campaign. He told supporters Huckabee, “was with us from the start, he stayed by our side and he lifted us up in prayer and tonight he’s celebrating with us in victory.”