From the Washington Examiner People for whom U.S. Rep. Todd Akin helped secure $31 million in earmarks have paid him back handsomely: The Missouri Republican has raked in nearly $80,000 in campaign cash from people tied to those firms.

The five-term representative is in a hotly contested primary race for the Republican nomination to oppose incumbent Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill, one of the Senate’s most ardent earmark foes.

Political observers view the Missouri Senate race as one of a half dozen that are critical to Republican efforts to regain a majority in the upper chamber in 2012. The Senate is currently split 53-47, with Democrats in the majority.