Todd Akin

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox officeholder William Todd Akin (July 5, 1947 – October 3, 2021) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Template:Ushr from 2001 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party. Born in New York City, Akin grew up in the Greater St. Louis area. After receiving his bachelor's degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, Akin served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and worked in the computer and steel industries. In 1988, he was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives. He served in the state house until 2000, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, in which he served until 2013.

Akin's Congressional career ended after he lost a bid to unseat Democratic U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill in the 2012 election. Akin, who had won the Republican primary in a crowded field, led McCaskill in pre-election polls until he said that women who are victims of what he called "legitimate rape" rarely get pregnant. Akin eventually apologized for the remark but rebuffed calls to withdraw from the election.<ref name="Haberkorn">Template:Cite news</ref> He lost to McCaskill, 54.7 percent to 39.2 percent.<ref name="2012results" /> In a book published in July 2014, Akin defended his original comments and said he regretted having apologized.<ref name=Palmer-FiringBack-2014>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life, education, and business career

Akin was born in New York City, and raised in the St. Louis area. He was the son of Nancy Perry (née Bigelow) and Paul Bigelow Akin.<ref name=nyt1944>Announcements, The New York Times, September 9, 1944, Section Sports, Page 21.</ref><ref name="faith">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="google">Template:Cite book</ref> Akin's great-grandfather, Thomas Russell Akin, founded Laclede Steel Corporation of St. Louis in 1911.<ref>Laclede Steel Names Chief, The New York Times, Business and Finance Section, March 26, 1966.</ref> The company eventually passed to his grandfather, William Akin, and then to his father Paul, a third-generation graduate of Harvard University who served as an officer in the Navy during World War II.<ref name="nyt1944"/><ref name="faith"/>

Akin graduated from John Burroughs School, a private prep school in suburban St. Louis,<ref name="faith"/> and Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, earning a Bachelor of Science in Management Engineering in 1970.<ref name=latimesobit>Template:Cite web</ref> Following graduation, Akin served as an engineer officer in the National Guard of the U.S. Army,<ref name="bluebook 1993.1">Official Manual of the State of Missouri, 1993–1994Template:Dead link, p. 157</ref> then served in the Army Reserve until 1980.<ref>Biography Template:Webarchive, Congressman Todd Akin, Missouri's 2nd District. Retrieved August 23, 2012.</ref> After leaving active duty, Akin sold large computer systems for IBM, then worked as a manager in his family's steel business.<ref name="bluebook 1993.1"/> Akin earned a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree in 1984 from Covenant Theological Seminary where he studied Greek, Hebrew, and a socially conservative interpretation of the Christian scriptures. He did not enter the ministry.<ref name="agenda">Template:Cite news</ref>

Akin was a longtime anti-abortion activist and a onetime member of the board of Missouri Right to Life.<ref name="akinplatform">Todd Akin Senate Campaign 2012 web site, On the Issues: Life, http://www.akin.org/issues/life. Retrieved November 4, 2012.</ref> He was arrested for trespass at least eight times between 1985 and 1988 while demonstrating against abortion in front of abortion clinics in Illinois and Missouri.<ref name="eight">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="arrested">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="speaks">Template:Cite news</ref> He said the protests were peaceful and he would not apologize for standing up for his beliefs.<ref name="arrested"/><ref name="2 top">Template:Cite news</ref> At the time of the arrests, he was using the name "William Akin"; after that period, when he ran for political office, it was as "Todd Akin".<ref name="arrested"/>

Missouri House of Representatives

Elections

Akin was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in November 1988, running unopposed to represent District 85 in West County.<ref name="bluebook 89">Official Manual of the State of Missouri 1989–1990, p. 669.</ref> He won re-election in 1990 with 59% of the vote.<ref name="bluebook 91">Official Manual of the State of Missouri 1991–1992, p. 506.</ref> Due to re-districting, Akin represented District 86 from 1993 through 2000, never winning less than 66% of the vote.<ref name="bluebook 93">Official Manual of the State of Missouri, 1993–1994Template:Dead link, p. 716.</ref><ref name="bluebook 95">Official Manual of the State of Missouri, 1995–1996, p. 541.</ref><ref name="bluebook 97">Official Manual of the State of Missouri 1997–1998 p. 574.</ref><ref name="bluebook 99">Official Manual of the State of Missouri 1999–2000 p. 571.</ref>

Tenure

Akin served as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During his 12 years in the state house, Akin advocated for homeschool rights,<ref name="stltoday1"/> voted for carrying concealed weapons, voted against the parks and soils sales tax, and voted against the 1993 tax increase and education spending increase.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Akin sponsored legislation to prohibit casino companies from contributing to Missouri state lawmakers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1995, he fought Democratic governor Mel Carnahan over a bill providing state funding for school nurses. Ultimately, the governor refused to sign the funding bill due to Akin's amendment, which would have prohibited nurses from telling students about sources for information about abortion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In 2000, Akin ran in the Republican primary election to fill the House seat vacated by U.S. Representative Jim Talent, who was running for governor. Light voter turnout caused by heavy rains helped Akin win the tight, five-way primary by just 56 votes; he defeated two better-known candidates, former St. Louis County Executive Gene McNary and State Senator Franc Flotron.<ref name="faith"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="world">Template:Cite news</ref> On the night he won the primary, Akin said, "My base will show up in earthquakes."<ref name="stltoday1"/> He defeated Democratic state senator Ted House in the general election, winning 55 percent of the vote.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He never faced another contest as close, and was reelected five times. In 2010, Akin won re-election with 67.9% of the vote.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Tenure

Akin earned a 96% rating from the American Conservative Union in 2008, and 100% in 2007.<ref name="Barone2010">Template:Cite book</ref>

For most of his tenure, Akin was listed in the official House roll as "R-St. Louis," even though his district didn't include any portion of the city of St. Louis.<ref>See, for example, the official House member list during Akin's last term in the House.</ref>

Social issues

Akin was an outspoken opponent of abortion in all cases, including health reasons or in cases of rape or incest, and he opposed embryonic stem cell research. In a 2008 speech on the House floor, Akin called abortion providers "terrorists" and alleged that it was "common practice" for abortion providers to perform "abortions" on women who were not actually pregnant.<ref name="stl-cbs">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="pd-pregnant">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Subscription required</ref>

Akin was a supporter of the right to keep and bear arms and had an A rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Akin was a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he co-sponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Akin also authored the Protect the Pledge (of Allegiance) Act.<ref name="world"/> In late June 2011, Akin objected to NBC's recent removal of the words "under God" from a video clip of school children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. After remarking that "NBC has a long record of being very liberal," Akin said, "at the heart of liberalism really was a hatred for God and a belief that government should replace God".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Two days later, Akin said he did not mean all liberals hate God, only that liberals have "a hatred for public references for God." The next day, he apologized, saying his statement had been "directed at the political movement, Liberalism, not at any specific individual".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

During his 2012 U.S. Senate bid, Akin reaffirmed his opposition to legislation like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which he voted against as a Congressman.<ref name="wapo-women">Template:Cite news</ref>

Akin opposed the No Child Left Behind Act. Akin believed that it should not be the federal government that decides on education, but that local government should have control over public education.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Fiscal issues

In his early years in Congress, Akin brought back earmarks for his district, voted to raise the debt ceiling, voted for off-balance-sheet wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and voted to create the unfunded Medicare prescription drug benefit.<ref name="world"/> Later in his tenure he opposed increases in taxation and spending. He voted in 2007 against an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), objecting to its potential coverage of children in families making up to $62,000 a year, and stating that proof of U.S. citizenship was not required. He also said the bill would "weaken the private health care system" and lead the country "further down the slippery slope to socialized medicine."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He voted against federally funded school breakfasts and lunches, and called student loans "a stage-three cancer of socialism".<ref name="world"/> He also voted against increasing the minimum wage.<ref name="world"/> He was a vocal critic of the September 2008 bank bailout, and voted against it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He voted no on the Affordable Health Care Act in March 2010,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and on Paul Ryan's fiscal year 2012 budget.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Military issues

Akin spent time working on military and veterans issues. On the House Armed Services Committee he served as the chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, which handles Navy and Air Force issues. He served as the Ranking Republican on the Seapower Subcommittee and the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. Akin also introduced veterans-related bills, most notably the Open Burn Pit Registry Act, which creates a registry for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were exposed to burn pits. He opposed repeal of the Dover Policy, which banned media coverage of caskets of troops returning home from overseas, citing privacy and decorum issues.<ref name="dover"/>

Committee assignments

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
  • Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces (Chair)
• Committee on the Budget
• Committee on Science, Space and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Environment

Caucus memberships

• Republican Study Committee
• Tea Party Caucus

2012 U.S. Senate election

In mid-May 2011, Akin announced he would seek the Republican nomination in 2012 to unseat Democratic senator Claire McCaskill.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other candidates in the August 2012 Republican primary included businessman John Brunner,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> author and business executive Mark Memoly,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and former Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman who had backing from the Tea Party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="foxnews">Template:Cite web</ref> Despite losing some momentum and in a crowded field, Akin won the Republican nomination in the August 7 open primary, 36% to 30% for his nearest challenger.<ref name="election">Template:Cite web</ref> The Claire McCaskill campaign spent $2 million during the primaries, despite not having a primary opponent. That money was spent on advertising touting Akin as "Too conservative," for Missouri.<ref name="election2">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, National Journal named Akin one of ten Republicans to follow on Twitter.<ref>"Ten Republicans to follow on Twitter," by Adam Mazmanian, National Journal, August 27, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2015.</ref>

Akin faced McCaskill and Libertarian nominee Jonathan Dine in the general election, losing to McCaskill after his controversial comments on rape lost him a great deal of support.<ref name=latimesobit/>

Home of record

In May 2011, questions were raised about Akin's official address for voting. For most of his political career, Akin had claimed Town and Country as his official residence. However, according to the Associated Press and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Akin moved to Wildwood, in far western St. Louis County, sometime between 2007 and 2009, after he and his wife purchased a second home there. However, he continued to vote as a Town and Country resident, and signed a polling place logbook attesting to his living there in April 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Comments on rape and pregnancy

In a local news interview, on August 19, 2012, whilst discussing abortion, Akin claimed that victims of what he described as "legitimate rape" very rarely become pregnant. Airing on St. Louis television station KTVI, his response to a question on rape exceptions for abortion was:

Well you know, people always want to try to make that as one of those things, well how do you, how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question. First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The comments from Akin, which came as he ran for the U.S. Senate seat held by Claire McCaskill, almost immediately led to widespread uproar. The term "legitimate rape" was called "loathsome" because it suggests that "there are different categories of rape – some real and awful and others that are not".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Others took exception to the phrasing because it suggests that the victims who do become pregnant from rape may be lying. His claims about the likelihood of pregnancy resulting from rape were seen by some as being based on fringe ideas like stress-induced miscarriage or Dr. John C. Willke's "spastic tubes" theory introduced in 1985<ref name="NYT-21-08-2012">Template:Cite news</ref> and trauma-based theory introduced in 1999.<ref>Rape Pregnancies Are Rare Template:Webarchive by John Willke. christianliferesources.com.</ref> These theories are not accepted by the majority of the scientific and medical community.<ref name="canard">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="pseudo">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Akin was not the first to make such claims, but was perhaps one of the most prominent until then.<ref name="Freind">Template:Cite news</ref>

The comment was widely characterized as misogynistic and recklessly inaccurate, with many commentators remarking on the use of the words "legitimate rape".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Related news articles cited a 1996 article in an obstetrics and gynecology journal, which found that 5% of women who were raped became pregnant, which equaled about 32,000 pregnancies each year in the US alone.<ref>Template:Cite journal Cited in: Template:Cite news</ref> A separate 2003 article in the journal Human Nature estimated that rapes are twice as likely to result in pregnancies as consensual sex.<ref>Template:Cite journal Cited in: Template:Cite web</ref>

While some colleagues such as Iowa congressman Steve King<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Tennessee state senator Stacey Campfield<ref name=Campfield1>Template:Cite web</ref> supported Akin, senior figures in both parties condemned his remarks and some Republicans called for him to resign.<ref name="defense">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="resignation demands">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="romney 1">Template:Cite news</ref> In the resulting furor, Akin received widespread calls to drop out of his Senate race from both Republicans and Democrats.<ref name="GOP chair">Template:Cite news</ref>

Akin characterized his comments as a gaffe, saying he "misspoke." His campaign ran an advertisement in which he asked voters to forgive him, saying:

Rape was an evil act. I used the wrong words in the wrong way and for that I apologize. As the father of two daughters, I want tough justice for predators. I have a compassionate heart for the victims of sexual assault. I pray for them. The fact is, rape can lead to pregnancy. The truth is, rape has many victims. The mistake I made was in the words I said, not in the heart I hold. I ask for your forgiveness.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The incident was seen as having an impact on Akin's senate race and the Republicans' chances of gaining a majority in the U.S. Senate,<ref>Ross, Scott (August 20, 2012). "Akin Vows to Stay in Race After 'Legitimate Rape' Gaffe". NBC 10 Philadelphia.</ref> by making news in the week before the 2012 Republican National Convention and by "shift[ing] the national discussion to divisive social issues that could repel swing voters rather than economic issues that could attract them".<ref name="cnn.com">Akin imbroglio is bad news for Republicans Tom Cohen, CNN updated 3:23 pm EDT, Wed August 22, 2012</ref>

Election result

Before the comments, Akin had been favored to win his race against McCaskill, but he lost in November, 54.7 percent to 39.2 percent.<ref name="2012results">Template:Cite web</ref> His loss was attributed to backlash from women voters, and was the first election he had lost in his political career.<ref name="Haberkorn"/>

After the election, between November 2012 and August 2013, Akin received $111,000 in donations that in part were for the 2018 Senate primaries, however he left after his term finished on January 3, 2013.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Aftermath

In July 2014, WND Books published Akin's book, Firing Back: Taking on the Party Bosses and Media Elite to Protect Our Faith and Freedom. In it, he said that he regretted apologizing, because "by asking the public at large for forgiveness, I was validating the willful misinterpretation of what I had said." He also defended his original comments and attacked various Republicans for "wronging" him, including Karl Rove; former National Republican Senatorial Committee Executive Director Rob Jesmer; Senators Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, John McCain, Roy Blunt, and Lindsey Graham; and House Speaker John Boehner. He also repeatedly attacked the Republican establishment for seeing his comments "as their opportunity to take [me] out and select someone more palatable to their tastes", and the "liberal media" for making him "the target of a media assassination."<ref name=Palmer-FiringBack-2014 />

Personal life

Akin married Lulli Boe, a graduate of Hollins University, in June 1975.<ref name="bluebook 89.1">Official Manual of the State of Missouri 1989–1990, p. 135.</ref><ref>Class of 1972 Reunion Attendees Template:Webarchive, Hollins Alumnae page, Hollins University.</ref> The couple had six children. Lulli became a home schooling activist, and all of the children were home-schooled.<ref name="faith"/><ref name="agenda"/> Three sons attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis and became officers in the U. S. Marines.<ref name="world"/> One of his sons served in the assault on Fallujah, Iraq.<ref name="dover">Template:Cite news</ref> Akin and his wife lived for many years in his childhood home, a house owned by his father in affluent Town and Country, Missouri. When his father sought to subdivide the 8.5-acre property in the late 2000s, Akin moved to a house in Wildwood.<ref name="stltoday1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Health and death

In April 2001, Akin had surgery to treat prostate cancer, which was detected at an "early stage".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He died from cancer at his home on October 3, 2021, at age 74.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Electoral history

Year	Office	Republican			Democratic			Libertarian			Ref
		Candidate	Votes	%	Candidate	Votes	%	Candidate	Votes	%
1988	Missouri House, Dist. 85	Todd Akin	14,538	100%	None	0	0	None	0	0	<ref name="bluebook 89"/>
1990	Missouri House, Dist. 85	Todd Akin	6,815	59%	Chris Liese	4,656	41%	None	0	0	<ref name="bluebook 91"/>
1992	Missouri House, Dist. 86	Todd Akin	14,809	100%	None	0	0	None	0	0	<ref name="bluebook 93"/>
1994	Missouri House, Dist. 86	Todd Akin	9,157	70%	Leonard Hyman	4,015	30%	None	0	0	<ref name="bluebook 95"/>
1996	Missouri House Dist. 86	Todd Akin	10,791	67%	Leonard Hyman	5,210	33%	None	0	0	<ref name="bluebook 97"/>
1998	Missouri House Dist. 86	Todd Akin	8,026	66%	Leonard Hyman	4,137	34%	None	0	0	<ref name="bluebook 99"/>
2000	U.S. House, Missouri 2nd Dist.	Todd Akin	164,926	55%	Tedd House	126,441	42%	James Higgins	2,524	1%	<ref>2000 Election Results Federal Election Commission. Mike Odell, Green Party, also received 2,907 votes, 1% of the total votes.</ref>
2002	U.S. House, Missouri 2nd Dist.	Todd Akin	167,057	67%	John Hogan	77,223	31%	Darla Maloney	4,548	2%	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2004	U.S. House, Missouri 2nd Dist.	Todd Akin	228,725	65%	George Weber	115,366	33%	Darla Maloney	4,822	1%	<ref>2004 Election Results Federal Election Commission, p 119.</ref>
2006	U.S. House, Missouri 2nd Dist.	Todd Akin	176,452	61%	George Weber	105,242	37%	Tamara Millay	5,923	2%	<ref>2006 Election Results U.S. House of Representatives Federal Election Commission, p.82.</ref>
2008	U.S. House, Missouri 2nd Dist.	Todd Akin	232,076	62%	William Haas	132,068	35%	Thomas Knapp	8,628	2%	<ref>2008 Election Results U.S. House of Representatives, Federal Election Commission, p.125.</ref>
2010	U.S. House, Missouri 2nd Dist.	Todd Akin	180,481	68%	Arthur Lieber	77,467	29%	Steve Mosbacher	7,677	3%	<ref>Official Election Results U.S. House of Representatives, 2010, Federal Election Commission, p.95.</ref><ref>Official Election Returns Template:Webarchive, State of Missouri Secretary of State, November 30, 2010.</ref>
2012	U.S. Senate, Missouri	Todd Akin	1,063,698	39.2%	Claire McCaskill	1,484,683	54.7%	Jonathan Dine	164,991	6.1%	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• U.S. Congressman Todd Akin official U.S. House website
• Todd Akin for Senate
• Template:C-SPAN
• Template:CongLinks

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