KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Former House speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will campaign in Missouri next week for Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin.
Akin's campaign says Gingrich is to attend fundraisers Tuesday in the Kansas City area and appear with Akin on Wednesday at a rally at the city's Union Station. Gingrich also appeared with Akin last month at a fundraiser in suburban St. Louis.
Gingrich and his former presidential rival, Rick Santorum, both are backing Akin's challenge to Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill - even though Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is not.
Romney had called on Akin to drop out of the race after Akin remarked in August that women's bodies have ways of avoiding pregnancy in cases of what he called "legitimate rape." Akin has since apologized.