Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich dropped his legal effort to get on Virginia’s primary ballot after failing to qualify for the state’s March 6 election. Gingrich’s legal team informed the U.S. District Court in Richmond that the former House speaker was voluntarily dismissing the case. Virginia had already sent out absentee ballots to disabled and military voters and it was unlikely the judge would have interfered with that process. Gingrich, a Virginia resident, failed to submit the 10,000 valid signatures necessary to qualify for Virginia’s presidential primary ballot, and his campaign sought legal relief. — Steve Contorno
