This was pending late last night, but now has been confirmed: Like Rick Perry — and Jon Huntsman, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum — Newt Gingrich failed to submit enough eligible signatures to qualify for the March 6 Virginia Republican primary. That leaves Virginia voters to choose between Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. Irony?
A poll released Wednesday showed Gingrich with a slight lead over Romney among Virginia Republicans in the race for president. The Quinnipiac University poll shows Gingrich at 30 percent and Romney at 25 percent among Republican voters.
Leading the poll. Not on the ballot.
UPDATE: Extra embarrassment for Newt? He actually left the campaign trail in Iowa this week to return to Virginia for two days in an attempt to make the ballot — a costly and, as it proved, futile waste of time.
And Newt lives in Virginia.
UPDATE II: Just dawned on me — all the “Anybody But Romney” voters in Virginia will have only one choice on March 6.
“Ihese stooges don’t scare me!”
UPDATE III: Linking Politico (not me), Ed Morrissey gets it wrong:
Bachmann and Santorum don’t have the resources to put people on the ground in Virginia; they’re both sinking everything they have into Iowa. I don’t think anyone expected them to qualify for the Virginia ballot.
But as I explained Thursday, Santorum did have an effort afoot in Virginia to get on the ballot. I was on the grassroots conference call at which that effort was discussed and a top Santorum staffer said they were “hoping for a Christmas miracle” in Virginia.
Another “Christmas miracle” would be if my friends like Ed would actually bother to read my blog once in a while.
Also, I hope Santa brings me a pony. That could happen.
So anyway, the reason the Santorum campaign didn’t submit signatures is that they fell short of the 10,000 minimum, whereas the Perry and Gingrich campaigns cleared the 10,000 mininum but were rejected during the validation process. As the state elections board says, some petition signatures are always invalidated, so to get 10,000 minimum (including at least 400 in each of the 11 congressional districts), they recommned getting at least 15,000 signatures statewide, with at least 600 in each district.
As I also explained Thursday, it was obvious the moment the numbers were announced that Gingrich and Perry, with about 11,000-12,000 signatures each, might take a hit in the validation process. But nobody important can be bothered to read this blog. IYKWIMAITYD.
UPDATE IV: And just in case anyone was wondering: No, Virginia rules do not allow write-in votes in a primary campaign.
Truly the Party of Stupid.
My Voters Registration Card reads: NPA.
Virginia needs to change the ballot requirements.
Personally, I love it when the ballot access horrors the duopoly parties inflict on everyone else come back to bite them in the ass.
The sole purpose of adopting the Australian ballot and the “access” laws that encumber it was to make it as difficult as possible for anyone but a Republican or Democrat to win an election.
It’s harder for a non-regime party to get on the ballot in Oklahoma than it is in Iran — and for the same reasons.
Ya know, it’s almost like some people have a particular candidate in mind and know better than the rest of us which one we should choose. But that can’t possibly be the case. The Stupid Party couldn’t be Smarter Than You.
Yeah, Libertarians will weep no tears for the GOP candidates caught by their own snares.
BTW, last time I talked to Eric Dondero, he was freezing his ass off in Vermont, where he’s working to get Rick Perry on the ballot. At this point, Dondero (a former Ron Paul staffer) is the Perry campaign in Vermont.
Heh. I knew he was in Vermont, but all he’d say was that he was on a secret mission for a candidate. I figured he was working across the state line in New Hampshire doing something for Romney.
Makes sense, though. Dondero’s one of the hardest-working ballot access petitioning guys around. I just hope he gets paid before Perry burns through whatever cash he has left.
You’re kinda turning into the Rodney Dangerfield of bloggers. Not sure if that is where you really want to go, but that does seem to be the path you’re on.
Then again it isn’t like the stuff you complain about doesn’t actually happen.
Seems to me, like if you were going to run for Pres, the first thing you would do is make a list. Yeah, I’m a mom. You’d make a list of each state, in order of deadlines, along with what was required to get on the ballot. This is what I did with scholarships in my Jr and Sr of high school with some success.
Any candidate that’s too incompetent to actually get on the ballot ….. oh hell I’m just going to get a cup of espresso. At some point you just have to accept that this country is going to be lead by mental defectives of one party or another.
Regarding Update III, the key word in what Ed wrote is “expected”. If the campaign is counting on a “Christmas miracle” to make the ballot, it can’t be expected that the campaign would make the ballot.
Eh, I’m sitting back and enjoying the humor of this all. No matter what things will go on much the same as they always have…badly. Keeping this in mind helps one to more thoroughly sit back and enjoy the circus.
The head explosions this week have been particularly spectacular.
[…] Gingrich Misses Virginia Ballot, Too : The Other McCain. […]
What is the earliest you can start collecting signatures? This just seems so stupid! Is the time allotted too short? Or is this just modern campaign incompetence?
Is this sort of a test in itself? Mitt can point to it and say: “I am fit to lead this country because I was capable of getting on the Virginia ballot.”
“kinda turning?” I have two words for you: Tabatha Hale.
Stacy gets no respect, no respect at all.
It’s also how Obama beat Hillary, and then McCain, and soon whoever. The electoral college is the only map that matters.
According to the Republican Party of Virginia, July 1, 2011.
WI recall supporters obtained 300,000 signatures in one month. Surely a Presidential race requiring only 10,000 should be a drop in the bucket. The cause is just. Right?
There will be an inordinate number of bloomers in a bunch and head explosions when Ron Paul becomes the default –Not Romney– candidate. I am sure we will enjoy 4 more years of The Chicago Jesus. The root cause of this fiasco is Florida moving their primary date up apparently at the behest of Romney as he is the chosen one per The GOP Smart Set.
So, Virginia voters will have a choice between Squishy and Bat Guano Wacky? Anyone think turnout will be about 2%?
Well, when you have a verification process prepared to say Adolf Hitler and Mickey Mouse are valid voters, as WI CAB did last week, it’s not that hard a barrier to clear. Of course, only Democrats can use those rules.
They’lre still taking Mikcey Mouse, but since the recall group thought a “pro-Walker” group was encouraging Der Fuhrer’s signature, they’re prosecuting those to the full 3-year felony extent of the law.
At this point I’m simply hoping pissed off VA Republicans pick Paul over Romney.
I never thought I’d ever say this but I hope Ron Paul wins the Virginia Primary, and I hope he wins it in a landslide at that. Maybe that way the GOP establishment will FINALLY get the message.
Getting ballot signatures is usually just a matter of money – hiring enough people to knock on enough doors. And the signature collector’s pitch is usually not will you support my candidate but won’t you support the process and help me out.
That means the Perry and Gingrich signature collectors must have gotten a lot of doors slammed in their faces with “Not for that twit!”
You’re talking like you think the RNC and VaGOP give a rat’s ass who turns out as long as their designated heir is the only one on the ballot to collect the delegates…
Look at the bright side, if one of the other candidates HAD gotten on the ballot and beaten Romney, VaGOP would probably have had them betray their voters at the convention.
Just checked my Cafe Press store: the “Proud Virginia Republican” bumper stickers aren’t selling at ALL. How can that be?
[…] its campaign director, does not know what the system is in the Old Dominion.[3. Smitty pointed out, on The Other McCain, that Mr Gingrich is now a Virginia resident, so he won’t be on the ballot where he lives. […]
Mr Gingrich’s campaign director said:
I am somewhat less than impressed by Mr Gingrich’s campaign director blaming his own failure on “a failed system.” He knew the rules, and failed, period.
Erm… playing off the Duke/Edwards LA governors race… vote for the squish, it’s IMPORTANT (no one who panders to racists and conspiracy theorists should ever win a Republican primary).
I don’t think its a matter of candidates not getting the names collected on time, if it were just one or two of them I could believe that. But four? No, this smells fishy to me. Perry especially. Isn’t he supposed to have all this money and organization? How could he have not gotten the signatures on time? Sorry, there’s more here that doesn’t add up than just the number of valid signatures. Somebody should challenge this. I would almost bet a challenge to the validation process would see that all the candidates met the state requirement. But who’s got the time or money for that?
They’ve been the same for decades. Thousands of candidates have qualified.
Yet suddenly those who don’t feel it’s not faaaaaaaair.
Have a tissue. If a candidate can’t lead well enough to qualify for the Virginia ballot, why on earth would you assume he or she is remotely qualified to be President?
Don’t know about Oklahoma, but in Virginia the requirement is exactly the same, party or no party.
In some states the Presidential ballot in several pages long. Perhaps you think that’s better for democracy? To have every half-wit idiot and his Star Trek Party on the ballot?
Face it: Stacy doesn’t have the rack to support a low-cut sweater.
What are you talking about? The rules have been the same in Virginia for over 30 years.
Just because most of the candidates were too incompetent to prepare properly doesn’t mean any deep dark conspiracy exists. It just mean your candidate is an idiot.
Well, that’s what someone with a brain who was really capable of running a serious campaign would do.
The qualifications have been the same for every statewide race for over thirty years. It’s not easy, but it isn’t all that hard, either. Obama and Romney had petitions outside the polls in November – smart, since you can be sure almost all those coming out of the voting precinct are registered.
They tell you when you inquire about petitions to get 15-20,000 to be sure because they do scrutinize the signatures. They have to match the registration.
How stupid are you? Florida did the exact same thing in 2008, but now it is “apparently at the behest of Romney.”
Bullspit.
Yes, the Democrats who controlled Virginia completely when these rules were devised decades ago set them just so the GOP could “designate” their candidate in 2012.
What are you smoking? The good medical stuff?
I would love to agree with you but the folks who matter to the Republican party aren’t the voters but the same folks that Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about in 1961.
Why would they be pissed off? Because the candidate they supported is too stupid and incompetent to collect 10,000 valid signatures in nearly six months? Just as every statewide candidate has done in Virginia for decades?
The problem isn’t Virginia’s rules. The problem is candidates who aren’t smart enough to think ahead. Yet, they deserve a vote for President?
WHAT does the “GOP establishment” have to do with it, except in your paranoid conspiratorial mind? These are state laws every other candidate has complied with for decades.
What is the “message” you want to send? “Stupid people deserve ballot access, too!”
Most candidates do it with volunteers. If they are dedicated, it doesn’t take long. It’s not that hard.
The tricky part is getting those from every congressional district. You could get the 10K in any of the four “metro” areas by itself: NOVA, Richmond, Roanoke, Tidewater.
Cry me a river. Every dip-spit who wanted to run in a Senate primary managed to do it. Every other candidate since Virginia had a Presidential primary has done it.
Big, fat, arrogant, self-entitled crybaby Gingrich should suck on it.
Oh, right. The system which worked for decades is a conspiracy.
Every candidate is warned: get 1.5 to twice the number needed because every signature is scrutinized.
Conservatives used to care about ballot integrity. Yet as we complain about the lack of checking validity in Wisconsin, some complain because Virginia is too strict?
Must be racism, eh?
When did they change to the foolishness they have now? I have been reading of rules changes about numbers of signatures and verification etc that do not add up for say, Paul, who’s petitions did not get scrutinized but did not turn in over 15,000. The establishment republicans in that state are in charge of their own rules, pure and simple.
They wanted things to be a certain way, and they got it.
I’m not sure I understand this argument. Ron Paul is an idiot (or a liar) and he got on the ballot. I assume that many idiots have gotten on the VA ballot in the past. Given that neither Santorum, Bachmann, Perry, nor certainly Newt, are idiots, I’m looking for another reason they had problems getting the sigs.
I am holding out for the nominee of the Dueling Party.
Adjoran,
I don’t give a tinker’s damn what’s “better for democracy.” I’m an anarchist.
If I did still care what was “better for democracy,” I’d say that the best thing would be to ditch the Australian ballot entirely and go back to the parties and candidates printing, or the voters writing, their own ballots.
There is no “modern” incompetence, it is as old as the hills.