Four GOP candidates fail to make Virginia primary ballot, judge rules
A federal judge on Friday ruled against four GOP presidential candidates seeking a spot on Virginia’s March 6 primary ballot, saying they waited too long to file their claims.
Left off the ballot are Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former U.S Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.
The four candidates had challenged the state’s residency requirements for those seeking to circulate ballot petitions, but Judge John Gibney ruled against the challenge.
“They [the four GOP candidates] knew the rules in Virginia many months ago,” the judge wrote in his ruling. “In essence, they played the game, lost, and then complained that the rules were unfair.”
Two other candidates did qualify for the GOP primary: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
Virginia holds its Republican primary on March 6, Super Tuesday. At stake in the primary are Virginia’s 49 delegates.
Virginia state law specifically prohibits voters from writing in candidates not on the ballot in primary elections.