It looks like Richard Mourdock’s controversial remarks about abortion sunk him.
Democrat Joe Donnelly secured a Senate seat in Indiana against the troubled Republican on Tuesday night.
U.S. Rep. Donnelly won 48% of the vote, while Mourdock got 46%, according to exit polling data by NBC News.
Moderate Sen. Richard Lugar was toppled in the primaries by the Tea Party-backed Mourdock. But Mourdock, the state’s treasurer, threw his campaign into turmoil after suggesting last month that pregnancies, even in cases of rape, are “something that God intended to happen.”
Several prominent Republicans, including Mitt Romney, distanced themselves from Mourdock.
Mourdock’s remarks seems to have turned off women voters. Fifty-two percent of female voters cast their ballots for Donnelly versus just 42% for Mourdock.
Before the controversial statements, polls showed the strict social conservative tied with Donnelly. After the remarks became public, however, Donnelly came way out in front.
The Indiana Senate race was considered critical for the GOP to gain the majority in the Senate.
