Only Romney & Paul on Virginia Ballot 11:35 am December 24, 2011, by Jamie Dupree
Officials in the Commonwealth of Virginia have announced that only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul qualified for the Super Tuesday ballot, dealing a setback to the campaigns of both Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich.
Backers of both Perry and Gringrich submitted more than the 10,000 signatures needed, but not all were judged to be valid by Virginia elections officials.
“Only a failed system excludes four out of the six major candidates seeking access to the ballot," said Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond, referring to the fact that Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum also won't be on the Virginia ballot.
"Voters deserve the right to vote for any top contender, especially leading candidates," Hammond said in a Saturday morning statement.
While Hammond vowed to wage a write-in campaign, this news was clearly a victory for Mitt Romney's campaign, at least for now.
But what if Romney stumbles early? Then the Old Dominion could truly be up for grabs in early March. .
Poster Comment:
Excellent, and highly unusual news. Only RP and Romney have the organizational strength to get on the VA ballot. it only took 10,000 signatures, and this could very well be a harbinger of who will be the last two men standing for the R nomination.