Candidates, committees spend money and stand ground in House and Senate races

The Associated Press looks at competitive House races in New York, where Republicans are spending significant money to hold three seats held by freshmen. In the meantime, Todd Akin is standing his ground in his Senate race in Missouri.

The Associated Press/Wall Street Journal: NY A Busy Battleground Of Competitive House Races
New York state's congressional elections are testing the staying power of Republicans who rode a tea party wave to a House majority two years ago -- as well as the resilience of Democrats striving to regain control. … The big money involved in the contests reveals the GOP's intent on preserving its foothold in the heavily Democratic state. The National Republican Congressional Committee said it had reserved $5.25 million for TV time in New York, more than half to defend three freshmen. The rest is going to three districts held by Democrats, including the Buffalo area seat won by Kathy Hochul in a special election upset last year. … Hochul made national headlines by pioneering the strategy of casting the race as a referendum on the GOP plan to transform Medicare, authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, now the party's vice presidential candidate (9/25).

NPR: Todd Akin Bets He Still Has A Chance
Republicans from presidential nominee Mitt Romney on down have called for Akin to stand down, believing that his infamous comments about "legitimate rape" have disqualified him as a candidate (Greenblatt, 9/24).