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KBIA's coverage of all the elections going on in mid-Missouri and the nation for 2012.

McCaskill expects to get outspent in November

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill says she's "relieved" to not have to face wealthy businessman John Brunner in her fight to keep her Senate seat. But she's still expecting to be outspent in the race against Todd Akin.

As of July 18, McCaskill had significantly more money in the bank than Akin, who had to survive a three-way primary. But outside groupspoured $15 million into the race even before McCaskill knew who she'd face in the general election.

"I worry about the independent ads, but I also trust Missourians to know that if these are ugly, bloated, distorted pictures coming from anonymous, out-of-state sources, they're probably not something you should pay a lot of attention to," she said during a campaign appearance Thursday at a small window shade manufacturer in midtown St. Louis.

McCaskill says she'll have the resources to advertise over the next 80 or so days. But she admits that a bigger presence from the Obama campaign would help her conserve her dollars.

"All of those offices that we're opening, typically that would be the presidential campaigns that would be opening those offices instead of us," she said. "So that makes it stressful because of the pressure we feel on fundraising."

(Rachel Lippmann/St. Louis Public Radio) /

McCaskill says she'd happily campaign with her fellow Democrat, but she's not expecting either side to make many campaign stops in the Show-Me State. Regardless, she said, Missouri residents will hear about the presidential race.

For complete election coverage, please go to our website, BeyondNovember.org.

Follow Rachel Lippmann on Twitter: @rlippmann

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Rachel Lippmann
Lippmann returned to her native St. Louis after spending two years covering state government in Lansing, Michigan. She earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and followed (though not directly) in Maria Altman's footsteps in Springfield, also earning her graduate degree in public affairs reporting. She's also done reporting stints in Detroit, Michigan and Austin, Texas. Rachel likes to fill her free time with good books, good friends, good food, and good baseball.