Todd Akin

Infobox_Congressman
name = Todd Akin


date of birth = birth date and age |1947|07|05
place of birth = New York City, New York
residence= Town and Country, Missouri
occupation= engineer, plant manager
alma_mater= Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Covenant Theological Seminary
state = Missouri
district = 2nd
term_start = January 3, 2001
preceded = Jim Talent
succeeded = Incumbent
party = Republican
religion = Presbyterian Church in America
spouse = Lulli Akin
branch=United States Army National Guard
serviceyears=1972-1980
unit=Missouri

W. Todd Akin (born July 5 1947), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing ushr|Missouri|2| ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/mo02_109.gifmap] ). The district includes the western and northwestern suburbs of St. Louis.

Biography

Born in New York City, Akin later moved to St. Louis, and attended John Burroughs School. After graduating, he attended the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he earned a degree in Management Engineering, and in 1984, he earned a Master of Divinity degree at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. From 1972 to 1980, he served in the Missouri National Guard.cite web| title = Veterans in the US House of Representatives 109th Congress| publisher = Navy League| url = http://web.archive.org/web/20070626235918/http://www.navyleague.org/legislative_affairs/HouseVets.pdf| format = PDF| accessdate = 2007-10-08 ] After his military career, he took up work at IBM as an engineer, and he later became a manager at Laclede Steel. Akin was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives representing western St. Louis County in 1988. He was re-elected five times.

In 2000, US Representative Jim Talent did not seek re-election because he was running for Governor of Missouri. Akin won a closely contested Republican primary election to replace Talent, defeating former St. Louis County Executive Gene McNary and Missouri State Senator Franc Flotron. [http://www.sos.mo.gov/enrweb/raceresults.asp?eid=13&oid=3681&arc=1] He defeated Missouri Senator Ted House in the general election, winning 55% of the vote. [http://www.sos.mo.gov/enrweb/raceresults.asp?eid=14&oid=3986&arc=1]

He is currently a member of the Armed Services Committee, Science Committee, and Small Business Committee, where he is ranking member of the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform and Oversight.

Akin lives in Town and Country, a wealthy suburb west of St. Louis. However, he is listed on the House roll as "R-St. Louis." This may be because many areas of the St. Louis County portion of the district (including one of his district offices) have St. Louis addresses even though the district does not include any portion of St. Louis itself.

Views

As a state representative, Akin earned a reputation as one of the most conservative members of the Republican caucus. Akin was an outspoken opponent of abortion, a supporter of the right to keep and bear arms, and was generally opposed to increases in taxation and spending. As a Congressman, he has continued to support these views, earning a 100% rating from the American Conservative Union in 2005, and a 92% in 2006.

Akin is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.04411: Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4411] ] and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. [ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.04777: Thomas (Library of Congress): HR 4777] ]

Committee Assignments

* Armed Services Committee
** Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee
** Air and Land Forces Subcomittee
* Science and Technology Committee
** Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
* Small Business Committee
** Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology

See also

*United States House of Representatives elections in Missouri, 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.house.gov/akin/ U.S. Congressman Todd Akin] official site
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Todd_Akin Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia
* [http://www.toddakinforcongress.com/ Todd Akin for Congress] official campaign site