Gingrich gets second chance at Ohio ballot

Newt Gingrich may have a second shot at appearing on the Ohio primary ballot if his campaign is unable to collect and file the appropriate signatures by close of business today.

The Washington Times reported Wednesday that Gingrich likely would not have enough signatures by the filing deadline to appear on Ohio's primary ballot, meaning that Gingrich could have to wage a write-in campaign for a portion of Ohio's 66 presidential delegates.



“We are going to give it our damnedest. We are going to do everything in our capacity to meet this deadline,” Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond told The Times. “As far as the next deadline, we’re on pace for everything else.”

But according to the Ohio secretary of state, Gingrich could have until March to file his paperwork. State law requires the signatures to be submitted 90 days before the primary, which had originally been scheduled for early March. That put the deadline at today - December 7 - for filing to be included on the ballot.

But the legislature has since moved the primary back to June, meaning that Gingrich should have an additional three months to gather supporters. Still, the Ohio Secretary of State asked candidates to adhere to the old deadline in case the legislature changed its' mind again and returned the primary date to March, when local primaries are being held, according to a report in TPM.

“If they didn’t file by today they wouldn’t have a second opportunity - so it’s more of an advice that our office has given,” Matt McClellan, a spokesman for the Ohio Secretary of State, told TPM.

That should provide leeway for a Gingrich campaign scrambling to capitalize on an unexpected surge to the top of the Republican polls. The former Speaker of the House has struggled to raise cash and build out his political organization as he still works to recover from the rocky start to his campaign. Nevertheless, Gingrich leads in the latest national polls by a double-digit margin.

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