Republican presidential candidate -- and Fairfax County resident -- Newt Gingrich tried to rally support during a rally in Rosslyn Wednesday night, as he rushes to get on the primary ballot in Virginia.
"Tomorrow in Virginia, we're going to turn in vastly more signatures than we need," he told the crowd.
Signatures are due Thursday in Gingrich's home state -- or should we say, home commonwealth?
It seems to be not widely known, according to the Washington Post, but Gingrich has called McLean, Va., home since at least 2000, when he bought a house there with his then-girlfriend, Callista Bise.
He's also often spotted at City of Fairfax Band concerts, toting his wife's French horn, the Post says. How's that for local?
Whether his Virginia ties help his numbers isn't known, but a Quinnipiac University poll out Wednesday does have Gingrich leading on the GOP side in Virginia. He currently has 30 percent of Republican support. He has 30 percent of Republican support, compared to Mitt Romney's 25 percent.
But Gingrich doesn't fare as well as Romney when going head-to-head against the president -- and his poll numbers have dropped somewhat recently.
Still, he told supporters at the rally that he isn't worried about the GOP field.
"We're playing catch-up.... A couple weeks ago, we became the front runner, so everybody shot at us and we weren't ready yet, because we don't have the structure and we don't have the money to compete at that level," Gingrich said at last night's rally. "So we've had to scramble, but we've had two phenomenal days in Iowa."
