Politics & Government

Northern Virginias In Iowa Caucus Tonight

Northern Virginia residents Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum appear on ballot; neither collected enough signatures for Virginia primary in March

Neighboring McLean residents Newt and Calista Gingrich have been spending a lot of time in Iowa.

Tonight will be an indication if those visits have paid off as thousands of Iowa  Reapublicans head to caucus locations for the tradition of choosing a Republican presidential nominee.

With almost every Republican presidential candidate leading the polls, including Gingrich, who topped the polls at the beginning of December,  many Iowans are reportedly still undecided.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Weather and this last week of heavy campaigning are just two of the factors that may determine caucus turnout tonight.

The latest polls are mixed. Some put former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ahead of Sen. Ron Paul and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Others show former Sen. Rick Santorum gaining on Romney and Paul.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Did you know? Patch has several publications in Iowa, including Ames and Iowa City.

Virginia's Primary

Virginia’s Republican primary is scheduled for March 6 and, frankly, it may not be very exciting. Only two candidates—Mitt Romney and Ron Paul—collected enough signatures to be on our ballots.

Yes neither Gingrich nor former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who lives in  Great Falls, qualified for the Virginia primary, which is part of Super Tuesday.

In late December, Virginia’s Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said the requirements to appear on Virginia’s ballot are too difficult. On Sunday, the Washington Post reported Cuccinelli may intervene in the process to get more Republicans on the Virginia ballot, but later in the weekend Cuccinelli said he'll only work to change the process for future election years.

Here, each candidate must get 400 valid signatures in each of the commonwealth’s 11 congressional districts and 10,000 signatures, total. Cuccinelli would like the district requirements lowered to 100.

If you were an Iowa resident tonight, would you vote of Newt Gingrich?

Please Vote and leave a comment.


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