USA FILE: Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich fails to qualify for home state primary

Record ID: 347790

  • Title: USA FILE: Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich fails to qualify for home state primary
  • Date: 25th December 2011
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MAY 11, 2011) (REUTERS) NEWT GINGRICH, FLANKED BY JOURNALISTS, WALKING DOWN HALLWAY OF U.S. SENATE BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 9th January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6MGHK5VW76LGVZ1O36INHOIU3
  • Story Text: Leading Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has failed to meet the requirements to be in the presidential primary election in Virginia, where he resides, the state's Republican Party said on Saturday (December 24).
    Gingrich had been leading in a poll of Virginia voters and a spokesman for the former speaker of the House of Representatives defiantly pledged to run a write-in campaign for the March 6 vote. However, Virginia does not permit write-ins in primary elections, according to the state code.
    Despite Gingrich's last-minute scramble to submit his petitions by the deadline, the state party said on its website on Saturday that a review process showed he did not have the required 10,000 verifiable signatures.
    A December 22 Quinnipiac poll for Virginia had Gingrich ahead with 30 percent of the vote, compared with 25 percent for Romney and 9 percent for Paul. Virginia is one of 11 states holding a primary or caucus on March 6. Gingrich is also ahead in many national polls to be the Republican party's choice to face President Barack Obama in the 2012 elections.
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