Rep. Louise Slaughter told our YNN Rochester colleague Mike Hedeen that she wasn’t shocked necessarily by Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin’s comments on rape, saying it’s par for the course with Republicans.

“Todd Akin did not surprise me. I heard all that before. In the last two years this term, we’ve had 12 votes on womens reproductive rights,” she said.

Slaughter is facing a tough re-election challenge from Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks, a Republican who has benefited from the help of national GOP leaders like House Speaker John Boehner.

But the conventional wisdom is that Akin, who insists he will stay in the race despite being deserted by nearly every Republican of national stature, will hurt down-ballot candidates, even in other races in different states.

Consider this statement from Democratic state Senate candidate Cecilia Tkaczyk who is facing Republican Assemblyman George Amedore, who is running in a newly drawn district just outside of the Capital Region:

“Everyone on the right from Karl Rove to Mitt Romney has disavowed or condemned Congressman Akin’s statements, but Mr. Amedore hasn’t spoken up yet,” said Cecilia Tkaczyk. “I want to know this not just as his opponent for State Senate, but as a woman, a longtime resident of Upstate New York, and a business owner in this district: does George Amedore see distinctions and levels of ‘legitimacy’ in rape? And are his anti-choice views so extreme that like Congressman Akin, he would suggest that a woman should be prevented from making her own reproductive healthcare decisions even in the case of rape?

Republicans here in New York, who tend to be far more pragmatic and moderate compared to the rest of the country, have sought to steer clear of social issues and prefer to play up their alliance with Gov. Andrew Cuomo on key fiscal issues.

Slaughter, meanwhile, says she would like to debate Brooks (possibly on YNN!) but wouldn’t commit to an event.

“We intend to debate,” she said.

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