Powerful conservative Sen. Jim DeMint says he is mulling cash aid for the beleaguered Senate campaign of Missouri GOP Rep. Todd Akin.
DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund has allocated millions of dollars to conservative Senate candidates this election cycle, including Richard Mourdock in Indiana, Rep. Jeff Flake in Arizona, Ted Cruz in Texas ($2.1 million), and Josh Mandel in Ohio ($957,000),
The Hill reports.
The South Carolina senator says the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) should reconsider its decision to drop funding for Akin if he decides to remain in the race. Akin has until Sept. 25 to remove his name from the ballot.
Working for Akin in Missouri, a traditionally Republican state, might work out better for Republicans than devoting cash to Democratic states such as Maine and Hawaii, where President Barack Obama is likely to win, DeMint says.
“I’m certainly looking at the race now. Todd’s a good conservative. He’s been a good representative for a long time. He did make a mistake and said it was a mistake,” DeMint told The Hill. He was referring to Akin’s controversial comments about rape and abortion that led establishment Republicans, including presidential nominee Mitt Romney, to urge the congressman to exit the race.
If Akin stays in, “I will certainly reconsider what I do,” DeMint said. “I think we need to take every Republican candidate around the country and do what we can to elect them. He’s certainly within striking distance.”
The latest major poll, from Rasmussen Reports, shows Akin trailing Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill 49 to 43 percent.
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