Rasmussen Reports has released a poll of 500 Missouri voters that shows US Representative Todd Akin is now trailing his Democratic opponent in the US Senate race by 10 points.
38% of the respondents of the poll said if the election were today, they’d vote for Akin, while 48% percent said they would vote for Democrat Claire McCaskill. This comes after a firestorm of criticism of Akin after he said victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant during a TV interview over the weekend. He has since said he misspoke and apologized, but many of his fellow Republicans have asked him to bow out of the race, including Missouri Senator Roy Blunt and Representative Vicky Hartzler, and presumptive Presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Nevertheless, Akin has consistently said he plans to stay in the race.
Rasmussen says the poll was taken Wednesday, and that 93% of the respondents said they have been following the news somewhat or very closely since Akin made the comments Sunday. It’s quite the fall in the polls, a July 30th poll by the same organization had Akin leading the race by 3 percent. On Twitter, Claire McCaskill said Thursday she didn’t believe the poll, quipping “if anyone believes that, I just turned 29.” The Akin campaign, meantime, said if McCaskill still only has 48 points in a poll after the events of the last few days, Democrats should ask her to drop out of the race.
