LENEXA, Kan. (AP) Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says it’s important for him to win the GOP caucuses in Kansas as he tries to overcome front-runner Mitt Romney.
Santorum had a rally Wednesday afternoon at a commercial printing business in the Kansas City suburb of Lenexa. About 200 people attended, sometimes chanting his first name, while several dozen more waited outside.
Santorum’s visit was a nod to the state’s suddenly heavily contested GOP caucuses, which are Saturday. He said he plans to return to Kansas on Friday and his wife, Karen, will visit the state Saturday.
Lenexa is located in Johnson County, a GOP stronghold that’s home to more than one-fifth of Kansas’ registered Republicans.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul is planning multiple events Friday in Kansas, but former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich on Wednesday scrubbed his planned Kansas appearances.