You won't find Newt or Callista Gingrich at their polling place in the Washington suburb of McLean, Va., when the state holds its primary Tuesday. Neither the GOP presidential candidate nor his wife will be casting a vote in their home state, according to NBC News.
That's because Gingrich failed to qualify for the state's ballot. Virginia requires 10,000 signatures from registered voters, with 400 coming from each of the state's 11 congressional districts. Only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul qualified. Following the rejection by the state GOP, Gingrich's national campaign director compared the setback to the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
Despite the state's stringent requirements, the failure raised questions about Gingrich's campaign organization. After all, the former House speaker has lived in the state for more than a decade.
Former GOP candidate Rick Perry filed a lawsuit along with Gingrich, Rick Santorum (also a Virginia resident) and Jon Huntsman to get their names on the ballot. The lawsuit ultimately failed.
“In this Republican primary, when given a choice between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney, they could not pick either one,” Gingrich campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond told NBC News.
Mitt Romney is expected to win Virginia's primary.
Gingrich will be hosting his election night party in Atlanta, having vowed to win the Georgia primary, the state he represented for twenty years in the U.S. House.
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.