Newt Gingrich and Gov. Rick Perry Fail To Qualify For Virginia Primary

Last night, the Republican Party of Virginia announced on their Twitter account that Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry did not submit the required 10,000 signatures they needed to qualify for the VA primary. In response to the news, the Gingrich campaign says that Virginia has "a failed system." Virginia is the former House speaker's home state, so it's kind of fortunate that he won't have to find out what his neighbors really think of him.

According to The Washington Post, "Perry's campaign told state election officials it had submitted 11,911 signatures, and Gingrich's campaign said it submitted 11,050 signatures."

It's unclear now whether the verification process showed that the two candidates did not meet the 10,000 signature goal, or if they didn't obtain 400 signatures from each of Virginia's 11 congressional districts.

This unexpected news leaves the Virginia primary to be decided between Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. The other candidates, including Michelle Bachmann and John Huntsman, did not submit signatures for the state's race.

Get your popcorn ready because the Virginia primary happens on Super Tuesday, which falls on March 6th of next year.

[@MylesTanzer]