Akin Kills Senate Campaign Bid February 27, 2015

(AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin is putting an end to the rumors: He will not make another run for the U.S. Senate in 2016.

Akin’s 2012 Senate bid was undermined when he remarked in a TV interview that women’s bodies have ways of avoiding pregnancy from what he called “legitimate rape.” The St. Louis County Republican, who served six terms in the House, was soundly defeated by Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill in the general election.

Akin recently made comments to a Washington, D.C., publication perceived by some as hints that he would challenge Republican Sen. Roy Blunt in the August 2016 primary, but Akin released a one-sentence statement Thursday that left no room for interpretation.

“In response to various questions: I will not be running for the U.S. Senate in 2016,” Akin said in the statement. Messages seeking further comment were not returned.

Akin, 67, told The Hill, a Washington newspaper, on Wednesday that “there is a high level of dissatisfaction among conservatives, that they have been pushed out of the Republican Party.” He said the Tea Party “is skeptical and wants some fresh blood, not just the same establishment guys.”

Blunt said during a conference call this week that he would not answer questions about the Senate race. He is expected to run for re-election but has not indicated when a formal announcement will be made.

Secretary of State Jason Kander, a 33-year-old Democrat, announced last week that he will run for Blunt’s Senate seat.

Hill Says Akin is Considering A Blunt Challenger in 2016 February 25, 2015

The Hill:
The Hill:

Todd Akin is considering a primary challenge to Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) in 2016.

“I have not ruled anything out,” the former congressman and 2012 GOP Senate nominee told The Hill in a phone interview on Wednesday.

“I think there is a high level of dissatisfaction among conservatives, that they have to some degree been pushed out of the Republican Party,” he continued. “The sentiment is there. The Tea Party is skeptical and wants some fresh blood, not just the same establishment guys.”
Akin’s reemergence is sure to be an unwelcome development for national Republicans.

Now, the GOP pariah says if he did run, it’d be to try to move his party away from a singular focus on economic issues, which he says has come at the expense of social issues, like abortion.

And Blunt, he argues, will have problems with the state’s conservative base.

“I think [Blunt’s] support among conservatives is weak,” Akin said. “His biggest liability is a third party conservative getting into the race. If I were in Roy’s shoes, that’s what I’d be worried about.”

Blunt is serving his first term in the Senate after having spent more than a decade in the House. He’s viewed as a centrist and will be a formidable incumbent with more than $2.2 million in cash on hand already. He has said publicly he intends to run for reelection but has not yet officially announced.

With Akin in the race, stakes could become even higher for Republicans in defending the seat, worried about the damage to Blunt or even unlikely upset he could pull.

Democrats have landed their top recruit for the race, Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, who launched his Senate bid last week.

Akin wouldn’t say how seriously he’s considering a Senate bid. He said he’s also is considering other professional options, like political writing and speaking. He said he’s working on an invention, which he described as a “simple household device that might help people.”

He maintains that a potential challenge to Blunt isn’t personal, although he says that Blunt and the Republican establishment didn’t just abandon him in 2012, they “aggressively attacked” him.

Following Akin’s controversially remarks in 2012, Blunt publicly urged Akin to leave the race and only returned to offer him a tepid endorsement once the deadline to drop out passed.

More: thehill.com

Todd Akin’s Book: Hillary’s a Hypocrite June 26, 2014

Politico:
Former congressman and Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin on Wednesday called Hillary Clinton “hypocritical” for defending an accused child rapist in 1975.
“It is incredibly hypocritical that Hillary Clinton would carry on about an imagined ‘Republican war on women’ when she once got a child rapist off the hook who she knew to be guilty, and laughed about how she did it when interviewed,” Akin told the Daily Mail in an interview published Wednesday. “In the process, she delegitimized the legitimate claims of the 12-year-old victim and then slandered the victim to justify her tactics.”
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Akin is known for his Senate campaign against incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), when he claimed that women who experienced “legitimate rape” were unable to get pregnant because “the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down.”
Akin’s book, “Firing Back: Taking on the Party Bosses and Media Elite to Protect Our Faith and Freedom,” will be in stores on July 15.
Correct The Record, a Democratic Hillary Clinton-affiliated rapid-response group, fired back quickly.
”Nobody should take advice from Todd Akin on women’s rights following his opposition to equal pay laws, his opposition to choice and opposition to rape protection laws, and his belief that women’s bodies ‘shut down’ during ‘legitimate rape’ to block unwanted pregnancy,” Communications Director Adrienne Elrod said in an email.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/todd-akin-hillary-clinton-108351.html#ixzz35o3KEltL

Charles Jaco Leaving St. Louis TV Station, did Akin ” Legitimate Rape” Interview March 1, 2014

Post- Dispatch:
ST. LOUIS • Longtime reporter and weekend show host Charles Jaco is leaving KTVI (Channel 2), according to the station.

“After 11 years of journalistic service to St. Louis, Fox 2 and reporter Charles Jaco have mutually agreed to part ways,” the station’s general manager, Spencer Koch, said in a statement. “We thank Charles for his service and wish him all the best in his future plans and pursuits.”

KTVI’s news director, Audrey Prywitch, emailed the statement to the Post-Dispatch but declined to comment further.

Jaco addressed his departure on Twitter, saying: “From Iraq in ’03 to Todd Akin in ’12, a great time. Thanks, guys! Now working on new book. Stay tuned!”

Jaco, 63, gave no details and could not be reached for comment.

Before joining KTVI in 2003, Jaco worked for KMOX-AM for seven years. He worked at CNN before that, reporting on the Persian Gulf War from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait City. He is a native of Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Jaco has also has hosted a weekend talk show, “The Jaco Report,” which drew national headlines for his August 2012 interview with then-Congressman Todd Akin of Wildwood.

The interview during Akin’s run for the U.S. Senate became controversial when Jaco asked Akin about his opposition to abortion in instances of rape. Akin answered that pregnancies caused by rape were rare, adding “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

McCaskill’s Husband Is Buying Another Plane. McCaskill Says Taxpayers Will Never Pay for Her Trips in It December 27, 2013

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill’s office says McCaskill’s husband, Joseph Shephard, has bought another airplane.
In 2011, McCaskill was in the news because of the failure to pay almost $290,000 in back taxes to the state of Missouri for another plane McCaskill and Shephard owned.
Missouri Republicans jumped on the story back then.
McCaskill said she eventually talked her husband into selling what she called at the time, “the damn plane”.
McCaskill’s office says Shephard has purchased an aircraft and there are measures in place to assure the taxes are paid on time and in full.
Her offices says McCaskill may use the plane at times in connection with her Senate duties.
“Any use of the plane by Claire will never be paid with taxpayer dollars, and Joseph has implemented strict safeguards to ensure every cost associated with the plane is paid fully and on-time,” according to John LaBombard, McCaskill’s Communications Director.
The plane will be put on the St. Louis County tax rolls January 2, 2014, according to McCaskill’s office.
That’s the next available date to do so, according to her office.
McCaskill’s office alerted reporters to the and purchase in Friday morning e-mail.
Shepherd is a wealthy St. Louis area businessman who’s wealth was well established before the two were married in 2002.
He has a variety of business interests.
Missouri Republicans and some of McCaskill’s Democratic opponents have tried to use Shepherd’s wealth and business interests to politically damage McCaskill.
During the 2012 Senate Campaign Republican Todd Akin’s bid pointed to federal money some of Shepherd’s companies received as part of federal low income housing programs.
The charge that Shepherd had some inside track to the money was never proved.