Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) has defeated Republican Rep. Todd Akin (R) to retain her seat, according to election projections from multiple news sources.

{mosads}The Missouri Senate race drew national attention after Akin’s controversial comments in late August that pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape” is rare because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Worried his continued candidacy would jeopardize one of Republicans’ best hopes at a pickup in their quest to regain a majority in the Senate, Mitt Romney and others in the GOP called for Akin to exit the race.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee and other Republican outside groups cut off support for his campaign after he refused to drop out, but Akin recently received an influx of outside cash, running more ads than McCaskill for the first time in the final week of the race.

The sudden outpouring of support and scrappy grassroots campaign, however, wasn’t enough to undo the damage Akin did to himself with his comments, damage that was compounded by millions in attack ads from outside Democratic groups.