John Brunner enters Senate race

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - The Republican race to challenge Senator Claire McCaskill in 2012 is officially a three-way contest.

John Brunner chairs the board of Vi-Jon, a St. Louis-based company that makes the hand sanitizer Germ-X.

He has a long track record of donating to Republican and conservative causes. But he’s never run for public office – which he says makes him the most qualified person to serve.

"Career politicians with political experience alone are just unable to restore the American dream. They have no because they have no real world experience to guide them," Brunner said.

A spokesman for Congressman Todd Akin welcomed Brunner into the race but said he remained confident Akin would win. The campaign of former state treasurer Sarah Steelman did not return a phone call for comment in time.

Brunner’s entry into the race affects Akin more, says University of Missouri St. Louis political science professor Dave Robertson.

"Brunner, as someone who has supported Akin in the past, who comes from the general area that Todd Akin comes from, really has a chance to split the vote that Akin would have gotten and so probably weakens Akin a little bit more," Robertson said.

Campaign finance records show Brunner and his wife donating five thousand dollars to Akin’s campaign as recently as March.

Rachel Lippmann, St. Louis Public Radio

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Clergy mad at Akin

Several pastors and ministers are dismissing an apology from Missouri Congressman Todd Akin for his statement last week in an interview that "at the heart of liberalism really is a hatred for God."

The clergy from the Republican Congressman's district delivered a letter to his office Wednesday morning, asking him to reconsider his words.

Akin made the comments while discussing a TV clip of the Pledge of Allegiance that omitted the phrase "under God" during NBC's broadcast of the U.S. Open Golf Tournament.

Reverend Krista Taves is a minister at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Chapel in Ellisville. She says the group is also asking Akin to reconsider his moral priorities as a political leader.

"And I think it's really dangerous when you turn something like the Pledge of Allegiance into a litmus test for moral faith," Taves said. "When you look at the budget that he just passed, it harms the most vulnerable in our society. And that is clearly contrary to the words of Jesus, who he follows, which is 'as you serve the least of these, so you serve me'."

Akin was not available to meet with the clergy when they delivered the letter.

Julie Bierach, St. Louis Public Radio

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Newman asks for investigation into Akin voting

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - A Democratic state Representative from the St. Louis area is asking for a formal investigation into whether Congressman Todd Akin voted from the wrong address for the last two years.

Stacey Newman sent the request to the Secretary of State’s office on Friday.

It’s in response to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article that found Akin has voted in the last 10 elections in Town and Country despite saying since 2009 that he lives in Wildwood.

“I cannot address if there is an intent to be fraudulent, but there are too many suspicions, there are too many irregularities,” Newman said.

A spokesman for Akin – a Republican Senate candidate – called it a “non-issue.”

The Secretary of State’s office will forward the request to the St. Louis County clerk and prosecutor, who handle voter registration complaints.

Rachel Lippmann, St. Louis Public Radio

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Akin to run for U.S. Senate

As expected, Missouri Congressman Todd Akin announced Tuesday that he will challenge Democratic U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill in 2012.

Akin, who has represented the 2nd Congressional District in suburban St. Louis for the past 10 years, says that he has the exact opposite record as McCaskill.

“And we give people a clear choice. It is a choice of two futures for America, and I believe that the people in Missouri will choose the choice of limited government, living within our means, developing American energy, and of course, freedom,” Akin said.

Akin joins former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman to officially announce their candidacy for the 2012 Senate race.

St. Louis businessman John Brunner has said he also is considering a Senate campaign.

Julie Bierach, St. Louis Public Radio

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