Thursday, August 23, 2012

Republican Congressman Todd Akin says he has taken in more than $100,000 from an online fundraising drive that he calls a message to "party bosses" about his commitment to the Missouri Senate race.

Akin posted on Twitter Thursday that thousands of donors had come forward to help him surpass the fundraising target he sought to achieve by the end of Wednesday. Senate candidates are under no obligation to file fundraising reports at this point in the campaign.

The suburban St. Louis politician has rejected calls from top Republicans to drop his challenge to Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill after he said women's bodies have ways of avoiding pregnancy during what he called "legitimate rape." Akin has since apologized for the remarks and acknowledged that he was wrong.