Free Republic

If you can't vote for yourself, why bother voting at all? That appears to be the tack taken by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich today, who said that he will not be voting in the Republican presidential primary in Virginia, where he resides but is not on the ballot, NBC News reports. Though Gingrich still brands himself as a son of Georgia (albeit one born in Harrisburg, Pa.), he has resided in McLean, Va. for more than a decade. But his campaign failed last year to submit the 10,000 signatures required to get on the ballot for today's primary. (Same...

....Across the state, turnouts were minimal. At a precinct less than two miles from Gingrich’s McLean home, the election went largely unnoticed. Only 30 of the precinct’s more than 3,000 voters had cast ballots by 10 a.m. A few miles away in Falls Church, voter Darren Ewing was frustrated that Virginia’s election laws did not allow him to write in Gingrich’s name, so he reluctantly voted for Paul. Gingrich “may not be the most polished candidate, but he’s a candidate with a vision” and a track record of implementing significant changes, said Ewing, 41, a financial adviser. At Gov. Bob...

ROANOKE CO, Va.— Tomorrow is Super Tuesday Ten states including Virginia will head to the polls to choose a candidate for the Republican nomination. Virginia's primary has been low key. Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are the only two candidates on the ballot in Virginia. Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich failed to qualify because they didn't get enough signatures. As a result, none of the candidates have made campaign stops in Virginia and have spent very little on political ads. Ed Lynch is a political science professor at Hollins University. He admits Republican voters aren't energized for the primary. "We...

No Virginia ballots should be ordered or mailed to absentee voters until a federal judge decides which Republican presidential candidates will be on the state's primary ballot. That temporary order was made Monday by District Judge John A. Gibney Jr., who will make a final decision Friday, Jan. 13, said Joseph Nixon, the lead counsel for Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Perry filed a lawsuit last month against Virginia's State Board of Elections after he didn't get enough signatures to get on the March 6 primary ballot. Only two Republican candidates did: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron...