Missouri Republicans Weigh In on Akin

By STEVEN YACCINO

Missouri residents who are active in the Republican Party are divided over Representative Todd Akin's decision to continue his campaign for the United States Senate, even as a chorus of party leaders urged him to throw in the towel.

The Republican establishment has turned against Mr. Akin in recent days after the six-term congressman said during a television interview on Sunday that women rarely get pregnant in cases of “legitimate rape.” He has been criticized across the country, and the comment has led state and national Republican leaders, including Mitt Romney, to distance themselves and pressure him to get out of the race.

And yet interviews on Tuesday with Republican state and county committee members across Missouri showed that, while few defended his remarks, not everyone thought they should end his political career. Some felt he deserved a second chance, saying the party was too quick to abandon one of it s own. Others expressed a growing frustration over what they saw as Washington politicians meddling in a Missouri affair.

“It's absolutely ridiculous,” said Winifred Gaston, chairwoman of the Bates County Republican Committee, who supported Mr. Akin in the three-way primary this month. “He misspoke. He apologized. That's it. What the national Republicans have in mind is beyond me.”

Ione Dines, an Akin supporter from Marshfield, Mo., and a member of the Missouri Republican State Committee, called Mr. Akin's office on Tuesday to encourage him to persevere. “If we do this to candidates, we're not going to have anybody who is worth anything run,” she said.

Officials at the Missouri Republican Party did not respond to requests for interviews.

Violet Corbett, chairwoman of the Johnson County Republican Central Committee who is also a member of the State Committee, said outsiders have underestimated how much support Mr. Akin has on a personal level. “We know him here,” said Ms. Corbett, who supported another candidate in the primary. “He's a good man.”

While she said she found Mr. Akin's comment offensive, she also expressed sympathy for the congressman. “Personally, knowing him as long as I have, I know he did not mean it,” she said. “It was a gaffe. And he has apologized.”

But Nadine Thurman, a member of the State Committee from Clarence, Mo., says the Republican establishment, which has refused to support Mr. Akin's campaign going forward, has made it difficult for him to continue what is expected to be an expensive race, regardless of his local support.

“I just have a feeling about this whole thing that Todd made this statement and some of these people are tickled to death that he did it,” she said about Republican leaders, a number of whom, she added, did not support Mr. Akin in the primary.

Many Republicans believe that the race against Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, could be one of the party's best shots at taking control of the Senate in November.

“I think they're jumping on this opportunity to get rid of him and get a stronger candidate,” Ms. Thurman added.

Still, it seems Missouri Republicans are not of one mind about who Mr. Akin's replacement would be, as internal battle lines begin re-emerging from the primary race, which ended just weeks ago.

“The people picked who they wanted,” said Charles Dickinson, the Wright County Republican chairman. “But you also have to see what's best for the Republican Party.”

He noted that many people - other county chairmen and chairwomen and state committee members - are waiting to see what Mr. Akin decides to do. And he stressed that it was Mr. Akin's decision.

Even so, Mr. Dickinson said he understood the national uproar.

“In this situation,” he said, “a Missouri affair affects the whole United States.”

Monica Davey contributed reporting