Steelman touts Palin endorsement in Mo. Senate bid

Former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is backing Sarah Steelman in Missouri's Republican U.S. Senate primary.

Steelman touted Palin's endorsement as a potential boon in a GOP primary in which all three main candidates have been trying to appeal to conservatives.

Palin's statement praised Steelman as a "commonsense conservative woman" who has stood up to the political establishment "to stop out of control spending and the destructive debt it leaves in its wake."

Steelman, a former treasurer and state senator from Rolla, is running against Congressman Todd Akin and businessman John Brunner in the Aug. 7 primary. The winner will face Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill.

A Brunner spokesman expressed surprise by the endorsement, suggesting that Palin "must surely be unaware of Steelman's anti-conservative record."