Capitol Calling
Missouri's irreverent and vital news source.
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State Sen. Jane Cunningham will not run for the U.S. Congress.With U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Wildwood, vacating his seat in Congress to run for the U.S. Senate, Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, had expressed interest in running for the U.S. 2nd District House seat.
But she told a St. Louis radio station on Wednesday morning that she would instead run for re-election for her western St. Louis County state Senate seat.
“This has been a long evaluation, a though evaluation for me, because I can really see myself in both places,” Cunningham said on the Jamie Allman Show on 97.1 FM. “I never go for title. I want to go for purpose where I can make an impact. And what I have chosen after my evaluation is today to announce my intention and commitment to run for a second term in the Missouri Senate.”
The two announced Republican candidates in the 2nd District race released statements this morning praise Cunningham’s decision to run for re-election.
Ed Martin, a St. Louis City attorney who ran for Congress in 2010 against U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, said in a statement that Cunningham is “a true conservative leader who has walked the walk not just talked the talk.”
“Let me be clear: Jane Cunningham would be a strong member of Congress because she has stayed true to her principles and not simply said whatever she needed to be in office like many candidates today,” Martin said. “I fully expect her to be in public service for many years as a state senator, as governor, or any other office she seeks.”
Ann Wagner, a former chairwoman for the Missouri Republican Party who lives in Ballwin, released a statement calling Cunningham “a great friend and an effective, conservative voice for St. Louis County in the Missouri State Senate.”
“We both live in the 2nd Congressional District, are both conservative women, and both care deeply about our neighbors and the direction of our country, and I will be working hard to ensure Jane Cunningham returns to the State Senate,” Wagner said in a statement.
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U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Wildwood, has been under fire this week for at stating on a radio show that “the heart of liberalism really is a hatred for God and a belief that government should replace God.”
The statement from the U.S. Senate candidate was made during a radio interview with Focus on the Family’s Tony Perkins. It came during a discussion about NBC’s decision to take out the word “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance during a golf tournament.
More from the St. Louis Beacon:
In the radio interview, Akin and Perkins were discussing NBC’s decision, during its coverage of the U.S. Open golf tournament, to cut out the phrase “under God” from its taped segment of the pledge.
Akin got into his Pledge Protection Act mode and contended that NBC’s act “was done systematically, it was done intentionally, and is tremendously corrosive in terms of all of the values and everything that’s made America unique and such a special nation.”
He then went on say, “I think NBC has a long record of being very liberal and at the heart of liberalism really is a hatred for God and a belief that government should replace God. And so they’ve had a long history of not being at all favorable toward many of things that have been such a blessing to our country.”
Those comments, according to the Beacon, prompted a rebuke from several religious leaders. And on Monday, Akin refused to apologize during an interview with Mark Reardon on KMOX.
Ultimately, Akin released this statement yesterday on his Web site:
“People, who know me and my family, know that we take our faith and beliefs very seriously. As Christians, we would never question the sincerity of anyone’s personal relationship with God. My statement during my radio interview was directed at the political movement, Liberalism not at any specific individual. If my statement gave a different impression, I offer my apologies.
The Beacon added the aforementioned religious leaders show up at Akin’s Ballwin office today.
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As you can tell, posting has been basically non-existent over the last few days. That’s due to an enjoyable trip I took to Washington, D.C. and getting caught up to speed with some projects.
In any case, above is my latest commentary for KWMU. It’s about U.S. Rep. Todd Akin’s run for U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill’s seat.
By the way, I recorded this commentary before the Post-Dispatch’s Jake Wagman released a story on Akin’s residence. You can read that story here.
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That didn’t take long.
Barely 24 hours after he entered the 2012 U.S. Senate race, former Treasurer Sarah Steelman lobbed what could be described as the first criticism at U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Town and Country.
Specifically, Steelman chastised Akin for voting for a budget deal that likely forestalled a government shutdown in April. From an e-mail just sent a few minutes ago:
This problem needs to be solved NOW. Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain are crashing under the weight of debt and we will soon be joining them if Washington doesn’t have a plan to control spending and reduce our debt. Standard and Poors, the credit rating agency has already downgraded our debt rating to a negative outlook, another warning signal and yet Congress does nothing but talk talk talk.
Now Congressman Todd Akin has announced that he will run in the primary for Senate. But he voted for the weak-kneed budget compromise between the House Republicans and President Obama. I would have demanded that the Republican Party honor its campaign commitment and exact the full $100 billion in cuts ($62 billion prorated). Akin’s failure to do so showed the House Republicans to be toothless dragons as we battle over the debt limit.
The House should be proactive and use their leverage to vote on current cuts combined with systemic changes in the budgeting process which means passing a balanced budget amendment with a limitation on the size of government relative to the GDP (gross domestic product), and they should defund Obamacare.Akin told the Associated Press that the budget deal was critical to funding the Department of Defense.
Up until yesterday, Steelman was the lone challenger to U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. Now it is looking like she will join Akin and possibly businessman John Brunner in the race to take on the first-term Democratic senator.
Akin starts the race with a fundraising advantage - he has over $900,000 in the bank. Steelman - who is the only candidate in the race who has run statewide so far - raised only $186,000 last quarter and has $193,527 of cash on hand.
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I ran out of space on my video camera before U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Town and Country, was asked about the potential U.S. Senate candidacy of John Brunner.
Akin was asked about the prospect of facing Brunner in a GOP primary. You can click on the link above to hear the answer.
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Here’s another video of U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Town and Country, answering questions from the media at his U.S. Senate roll-out in Creve Coeur.
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Here’s a video of U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Town and Country, taking some questions from the media about his U.S. Senate bid.
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I’m running to change the status quo in Washington. The Washington establishment has been looking for a candidate that will protect their interests instead of those of the people. I’ve repeatedly said that this election will be a choice between a continuation of the same policies of the last twelve years or someone who is willing to fight to restore fiscal discipline to our government. We cannot continue to spend money we don’t have. I welcome Congressman Akin to the race and look forward to a vigorous debate so we can let the voters decide who is best to stand up for working Missouri taxpayers vs the Washington special interests.
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For all those who are interested, here is the video that was played at the end of U.S. Todd Akin’s announcement that he will run for the U.S. Senate.
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It’s official: U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Town and Country, is running for the U.S. Senate.
Akin made the announcement Tuesday in Creve Coeur. Political luminaries attending the event included U.S. Congress aspirants Ann Wagner and Ed Martin. Some state lawmakers who were in attendance include House Majority Leader Tim Jones, R-Eureka, Reps. Dwight Scharnhorst, R-St. Louis County, Kathy Conway, R-St. Charles County, Paul Curtman, R-Pacific, and Gary Fuhr, R-St. Louis County.
Akin joins former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman and possibly businessman John Brunner in the GOP primary. The winner will face off against U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.
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Jo Mannies of the St. Louis Beacon is reporting that Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, will “definitely” run for Congress.
The first-term state senator had expressed interest in running for the seat earlier this year. But in an interview, Cunningham said she will make it official if U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Town and Country, runs for Congress:
“I’m in,” said Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, on Tuesday, referring to the increasingly crowded field for the 2nd Congressional District.
So far, St. Louis lawyer Ed Martin has switched his candidacy from the U.S. Senate to the 2nd District, and former Ambassador Ann Wagner has announced an exploratory committee.
But Cunningham — who has made no secret of her own interest for weeks — emphasized she won’t formally announce until the district’s incumbent congressman — fellow Republican Todd Akin of Town and Country — officially declares he’s running in 2012 for the U.S. Senate.
“I’m very sensitive to being honorable to him,” Cunningham said. “It’s totally up to him.”
If Cunningham runs, it will mean that her Senate seat will be vacant next year. That will likely prompt a flood of Republican candidates to run in that race.
