Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich are in position to make Virginia’s 2012 primary election ballot after handing in at least 10,000 signatures each to state election officials Thursday. Three other candidates — former Sen. Rick Santorum, Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman — failed to file petitions and won’t appear on the March 6 ballot, raising questions about their long-term viability.
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor with a strong campaign organization in Virginia, was well ahead of the others, handing in more than 16,000 signatures Tuesday. Paul filed 14,361 signatures Thursday, the second most, followed by Perry’s 11,911 and Gingrich’s 11,050, according to the State Board of Elections.
Phony or incomplete signatures are common on candidate petitions, putting Perry and Gingrich at greater risk if more than a few of their signatures are struck.
Gingrich, the only candidate who lives in Virginia, was scrambling over the past two days to reach the threshold necessary to make the state’s ballot. He held petition drives in Northern Virginia and Richmond just before the deadline, but that meant he had to leave Iowa and New Hampshire, where voters will be going to the polls in a matter of weeks.
“Having to scramble and spend valuable days in Virginia doesn’t reflect well or give positive answers to the questions about his campaign organization,” said Kyle Kondik, political analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
Still, Gingrich did better than Santorum, Bachmann and Huntsman, whose failure to even get on the ballot of a key battleground state raises serious questions about whether they have the organization and financial support needed to sustain a prolonged campaign.
“Ohio, Florida and Virginia are the key swing states in 2012,” Kondik said. “How seriously can one take Bachmann, Huntsman and Santorum if they’re not going to be on the ballot in one of the most important swing states in the country?”
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Virginia Republicans, tasked with counting and authenticating the signatures, asked the candidates to turn in 15,000 names, which under state law meant they would only have to verify 400 signatures in each of the state’s 11 congressional districts. Only Romney surpassed that mark, however. Volunteers now will work around the clock through the Christmas weekend, if necessary, to verify all of the names on the other three candidates’ petitions to determine if they each have the 10,000 required for a spot on the ballot. They have to certify the counts by Tuesday.
President Obama submitted more than 15,000 signatures to the State Board of Elections earlier this month to appear on the Democratic ballot.
