Gingrich joined Akin for a rally Wednesday with about 100 supporters in Kansas City. He said an Akin victory not only could help Republicans gain a Senate majority but could teach a lesson to national GOP leaders — including presidential hopeful Mitt Romney — who abandoned Akin after he remarked that women’s bodies have ways of avoiding pregnancy in what Akin called “legitimate rape.”

Akin apologized but rejected calls to quit.

Dozens of McCaskill supporters protested Wednesday’s rally with signs referencing Akin’s rape remark. McCaskill was to campaign later Wednesday in St. Louis — her first event since her mother’s death Monday.