In the latest sign that his campaign organization hasn't kept pace with his recent rise in the polls, GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich failed to qualify for the primary ballot in his home state of Virginia, the state Republican Party announced early Saturday.
The party, in a Twitter feed, said the former House speaker did not submit enough valid petition signatures to meet the state’s 10,000-signature threshold. Gingrich, who represented Georgia in Congress, now lives in the Virginia suburbs outside Washington with his wife Callista and has voted there over the last decade.
Gingrich made a last-ditch effort to meet the filing deadline but fell short. He added campaign events in Virginia this week and appeared at a fundraising breakfast for the state GOP in the state capital of Richmond on Thursday. He said Thursday that he expected to file enough signatures to qualify.
After state GOP officials verified the signatures submitted by the campaigns, both Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry failed to qualify. That left only two candidates, Mitt Romney and former Rep. Ron Paul, certified to appear on the state’s March 6 "Super Tuesday" ballot.