• Rape remarks sink two Republican Senate hopefuls

    Whitney Curtis / Getty Images

    U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill greets supporters during an election night party in St. Louis on Tuesday.

    By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Democrats prevailed against Republicans in two U.S. Senate races in which abortion and controversial remarks about rape played a pivotal role.

    U.S. Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri — who set off a firestorm after using the phrase “legitimate rape” — and Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock — who said, “even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen” — were projected to lose their Senate races, NBC News reported on Tuesday.

    Their Democratic  rivals, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill and Indiana U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, are the projected winners.

    Sen. Claire McCaskill wins re-election in Missouri, beating Rep. Todd Akin who came under fire for saying women had ways of preventing pregnancies in the case of "legitimate rape."

    “This is a race Republicans were counting on winning,” NBC News' Andrea Mitchell said of Mourdock’s projected loss.  “This is a pickup for the Democrats, and a very important one.”

    Indeed, early on in the campaign Republicans had McCaskill, 59, in their sights as a seat to pick up.

    Michael Conroy / AP

    Democrat Joe Donnelly, right, takes the stage in front of former Sen. Evan Bayh, after winning the U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday.

    That seemed a fair possibility until August, when Akin, 65, was asked in a TV interview whether abortion should be legal in cases of rape. "From what I understand from doctors, that's really rare,” he replied. “If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

    Akin ignored calls to quit the race from Republicans, including presidential nominee Mitt Romney and all five living Republicans who had represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate.

    Akin later apologized, saying his comment was “ill conceived and wrong.” He also explained that he opposes abortion in cases of women who become pregnant after being raped because "rape is a tragedy, and I don't think it helps the first tragedy to add a second tragedy to it.”

    Abortion was also an issue in the Indiana Senate campaign. When Tea-Party backed Mourdock, who had defeated six-term Sen. Richard Lugar in the primary, was asked about his opposition to abortion in all cases except when the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy, he left an opening for the moderate Democratic congressman Donnelly, 57, to pick up the seat.

    Todd Akin says that called Claire McCaskill to concede after being defeated in the Missouri Senate race.

    "I struggled with it myself for a long time, Mourdock, 61, said. “But I came to realize life is that gift from God, and I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen."

    Donnelly's projected victory comes in a state Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was projected to win.

    Slideshow: Election 2012

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    Campaigning with Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, voting and election results.

    Launch slideshow

    Mourdock later attempted to clarify his remarks, saying he did not think God intended for rape to happen, but by then Democrats were already targeting his seat. For his part, Lugar stayed out of the race and never campaigned for Mourdock.

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  • Democrats make gains in Senate majority

    Despite needing to defend 23 seats, Democrats managed to retain control of the Senate, a feat that seemed unlikely when this election year began. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports.

    By M. Alex Johnson, NBC News

    Updated at 2:00 p.m. ET, Nov. 7: Democrats added another seat in the Senate on Wednesday, according to NBC News projections, strengthening their control of the Senate. 

    Democrat Heidi Heitkamp was declared the winner of the North Dakota senate race Wednesday, defeating Republican Rep. Rick Berg. See results

    Earlier, Democrat Jon Tester was declared the winner over Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg in Montana, a contest which saw an estimated $40 million spent in a state with fewer than 1 million residents. See results

    Those victories, which gave Democrats control of 53 seats in the Senate -- along with one independent, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with them -- kept the party's edge in the upper chamber of Congress.

    Independent Angus King of Maine won an open Senate seat that had been held by Republican Olympia Snowe, NBC News projected. King could vote with the Democrats, though he hasn't yet said which party, if any, he will side with. 

    Maine independent promised to shake up Washington

    In one of the most hotly contested Congressional races, Democrat Elizabeth Warren won the Massachusetts Senate seat held by Republican Sen. Scott Brown, becoming the first woman to be elected to the Senate from that state. The senator-elect speaks with TODAY's Matt Lauer about her victory.

    With the House remaining in Republican hands, the makeup of the government will remain static: President Barack Obama was re-elected, but he will have to contend with a divided Congress for four more years.

    "Things like this are what happens when your No. 1 goal is to defeat the president and not work to get legislation passed," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a statement. 

    In a statement of his own, Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky challenged Obama to "propose solutions that actually have a chance of passing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and a closely divided Senate."

    "To the extent he wants to move to the political center, which is where the work gets done in a divided government, we'll be there to meet him halfway," McConnell said.

    View complete Senate election results

    The Democrats clung to control on the back of a series victories in states that had been statistical ties in pre-election polls:

    Senators winning re-election

    NBC News projected that the following senators would win re-election:
    John Barrasso, R-Wyo.
    Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio
    Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
    Ben Cardin, D-Md.
    Bob Casey, D-Pa.
    Tom Carper, D-Del.
    Bob Corker, R-Tenn.
    Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
    Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
    Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
    Tom Manchin, D-W.Va.
    Robert Menendez, D-N.J.
    Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
    Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
    Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.
    Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
    Roger Wicker, R-Miss.

    • Harvard University law professor Elizabeth Warren ousted Republican Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts, NBC News projected. Massachusetts results
    • Republican state legislator Deb Fischer defeated former Sen. Bob Kerrey for the open seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, NBC News projected. Nebraska results
    • Democratic former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine beat former Republican Gov. George Allen, NBC News projected, keeping the seat held by the retiring Sen. Jim Webb in Democratic hands. See results
    • Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly of Indiana defeated Republican state Treasurer Richard Mourdock to claim the open seat held by Republican Dick Lugar, NBC News projected. Mourdock had been favored until he drew national opposition for having said in a debate last month that he believed that pregnancies resulting from rape were a "gift from God" and shouldn't be terminated. See results
    • Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill held on to her seat in Missouri after Republican Rep. Todd Akin made similar comments in a TV interview in August, suggesting that women's bodies could "shut down" a pregnancy that was the result of a "legitimate rape." See results

    Virginia Senator-elect Tim Kaine weighs in on what made the difference for him and the president in his state, how Obama plans to work with the GOP and why it may be a more cooperative relationship in this second term.

    As expected, Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., defeated Republican former Rep. Heather Wilson to win the open seat of retiring Republican Jeff Bingaman, and Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., beat Republican former Gov. Tommy Thompson to become the nation's first openly gay senator, NBC News projected. New Mexico results 

    Thompson, who served as secretary of Health and Human Services in the administration of former President Geoorge W. Bush, announced his retirement from politics in his concession speech. Wisconsin results

    Wisconsin's Baldwin becomes first openly gay senator

    Democrats entered Tuesday with control 53 seats in the current Senate (that number included Sanders and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent who also generally voted with them); Republicans held 47.

    Ten senators weren't seeking re-election this cycle — the most since 1996. In addition, Lugar lost to Mourdock in the Indiana Republican primary, meaning at least 11 new faces will join the Senate on Jan. 2.

    Exit polls: Majority of voters see America on wrong track

    Warren's victory was particularly sweet for Democrats, for whom she was a hero as the architect of Obama's U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

    "You took on the powerful Wall Street banks and special interests, and you let them know you want a senator who will be out there fighting for the middle class all of the time," she told cheering supporters in Boston.

    The races in Missouri and Indiana were also closely watched because of the controversies generated by Akin's and Mourdock's comments on abortion.

    McCaskill reveled in her victory, giving supporters a beaming I-told-you-so speech in St. Louis.

    "They all said it's over — it's done, it's too red, it's just too red," she said. "There is no way that Claire McCaskill can survive. Well, you know what happened? You proved them wrong."

    Akin told supporters in Missouri that he had called to congratulate McCaskill, but he sounded a defiant note:

    Todd Akin says that called Claire McCaskill to concede after being defeated in the Missouri Senate race.

    "I also think, in the circumstances that we've all been through, that it is particularly appropriate to thank God, who makes no mistakes and is wiser than we are," Akin said.

    "... Washington, D.C.'s first questions shouldn't be what's politically expedient, but what's right," he said. "Washington doesn't need more money. It needs more courage."

    Donnelly, meanwhile, stressed bipartisanship, telling supporters in Indianapolis that he hoped to follow in the moderate shoes of two predecessors, Lugar and Democrat Evan Bayh.

    "I say to all of my fellow Hoosiers out there: This isn't about politics. This isn't about one party or the other," Donnelly said.

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  • Biden links GOP ticket to Mourdock, Akin

    By NBC's Carrie Dann

    KENOSHA, Wis. -- Three days after Indiana GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock sparked a firestorm for saying that pregnancies from rape are "something God intended to happen," Vice President Joe Biden linked the remark - along with another by controversial candidate by Missouri GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin -- to the Republican ticket. 

    "They made it very clear that they do not believe a woman has a right to control her own body," Biden said of Republican standard-bearers Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. "They can't even get up the gumption to condemn the statements made by 2 of their candidates for United states Senate."  

    This summer, Missouri candidate Akin designated "legitimate rape" as a scenario in which physical pregnancy could not occur, prompting Republican leaders - including Romney - to urge him to exit the competitive race. 

    Romney called Akin's language "offensive and wrong" but was less vigorous about Mourdock's statement, saying he "disagreed" but still backs him. 

    "It's not enough to tell me you don't agree," Biden said Friday, alluding to Romney's distance from Mourdock's statement but refusal to rescind his endorsement of the Indiana candidate. "It's having the moral courage to stand up and say what they said was wrong, simply wrong." 

    Biden has consistently been critical of the Republican ticket's views on abortion, but he has not specifically named either of the two controversial Senate candidates before. 

    The vice president's critique came at his last event of a day-long swing through Wisconsin. He will travel to Lynchburg, VA tomorrow for a rally, but the campaign has cancelled a planned Virginia Beach event due to an impending storm. 

  • Indiana Republican: Comments about rape being 'twisted'

    By Michael O'Brien, NBC News

     

    Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said Wednesday that his controversial comments regarding conception following rape are being taken out of context. At a Tuesday night debate versus Democratic opponent Joe Donnelly, he said that when women become pregnant after being raped, “that’s something God intended.”

    The Indiana state treasurer said Tuesday in response to a question about abortion rights: "I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God and I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape that it is something God intended to happen."

    Mourdock, a favorite of Tea Party supporters, said Wednesday that his comments were inelegantly stated, and subsequently mischaracterized by Democrats.

    "I am a much more humble person this morning. Because so many people mistook, twisted, came to misunderstand the points that I was trying to make," he said at a press conference in Indiana. "And if, because of the lack of clarity in my words, that they came away with the impression other than I stated a moment ago -- that life is precious, that I abhor violence and that I'm confident God abhors violence and rape -- if they came away with any impression other than that, I truly regret it."

    Mourdock's comments not only threaten to make a competitive Senate race more challenging for the GOP, but also, by proxy, exacerbate Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's struggles with female voters.

    Romney appeared in a television ad on Monday that endorsed Mourdock, the only such ad the GOP standard-bearer has cut for a Senate candidate this cycle. The Romney campaign released a statement on Tuesday evening taking exception to the Indiana Senate candidate's comments, and Mourdock said on Wednesday that he hadn't spoken to Romney or any other Republican who had urged him to apologize.

    Romney's campaign issued a statement on Wednesday reiterating its support for Mourdock, while emphasizing its differences from Mourdock on allowing abortion in cases of rape and when the mother’s health is in danger.

    Democrats have tried to make hay of the controversy, releasing a flurry of statements demanding that Romney more forcefully disavow Mourdock and take down the television ad. (Mourdock said Wednesday that the ads continued to run in Indiana.)

    "For those who kind of want to twist the comments, and use them for partisan, political gain -- I think that's wrong with Washington these days," Mourdock said of the response his comments had provoked. "I'm confident that Hoosier voters are going to be moving on and supporting us in big numbers in 13 days."

    The controversy threatened to remind voters of other Republicans' comments this election about rape, most notably Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin's comments earlier this summer asserting that "legitimate rape" rarely results in pregnancy. Republicans more sharply distanced themselves from Akin, a congressman, and urged him to drop out of the race.

    Akin never withdrew, though, a move which is widely regarded to have hurt the GOP's chances of beating Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill in Missouri and, by extension, retake the U.S. Senate. Republicans must pick up a bet of four seats on Nov. 6 -- three, if Romney is elected president -- in order to wrest control of the upper chamber from Democrats. The GOP entered the 2012 elections with hopes of achieving that goal, but candidates' missteps and better-than-expected performances by some Democrats have made control of the Senate an open question in this election.

    Whether this hurts Mourdock's race versus Donnelly -- or is able to translate into a political millstone for Romney -- is an open question in the waning days before Election Day. Mourdock took strides toward reassuring important women voters of his stance.

    "I don't think God wants rape, because rape is evil," he said. "I want to assure every woman who hears this, who hears the story of this, that I abhor it, and I'm confident God abhors this."