***UPDATE2: NEWT NOT IN YET***
This stinks. It appears Perry did not turn in enough valid signatures and is thus disqualified from the Virginia primary ballot:
WASHINGTON POST – Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry failed to submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the Virginia primary ballot, state GOP officials said Friday evening.
Perry’s campaign told state election officials it had submitted 11,911 signatures, but a Virginia Republican familiar with the situation said that the Texas governor did not submit the required 10,000.
Earlier Friday, the Republican Party of Virginia certified former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) to appear in the March ballot.
Four candidates — Romney, Perry, Paul and former House speaker Newt Gingrich — turned in thousands of signatures by the deadline. State party officials are spending the day certifying the signataries.
They have not examined Gingrich’s signatures yet, but expected to do so by late Friday night.
Candidates had until 5 p.m. to collect 10,000 signatures from across the state, including 400 from each congressional district.
Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum did not submit signatures, according to state GOP officials.
Right now it’s just Romney and Paul. Newt is still pending, but there’s a chance he may fail too. Oy vey.
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UPDATE: Newt in?
The Virginia State Republican Party has announced that Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are the only three GOP contenders to qualify for their March 6 GOP primary ballot.
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UPDATE2 – Apparently the Rockland County Times was a bit premature in their assessment. They now report that Newt’s signatures are still being verified:
CORRECTION FROM EARLIER VERSION — Gingrich has not yet been certified as qualifying
The Virginia State Republican Party has indicated that of the seven candidates Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are the only two GOPers to qualify for their March 6 GOP primary ballot as of mid-Friday evening. Newt Gingrich’s fate hangs in the balance as his petitions are being examined at this time.
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