Category: Newt Gingrich

The 2012 Republican Presidential Primaries

The presidential primary season is reaching its halfway point. On April 4 Mitt Romney swept the GOP presidential primaries in Maryland, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, bringing him another step closer to securing the Republican nomination and the general election in November.

With another three primaries now over, it’s a good time to look at the race for the Republican presidential nomination as it stands now.

Who won which states so far:

Mitt Romney – New Hampshire, Florida, Nevada, Maine, Michigan, Arizona, Wyoming, Washington, Alaska, Ohio, Virginia, Vermont, Massachusetts, Idaho, Northern Marianas, Guam, Hawaii, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Maryland, Wisconsin, District of Columbia

Rick Santorum – Iowa, Missouri (non-binding primary), Minnesota, Colorado, Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Dakota, Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana

Newt Gingrich – South Carolina, Georgia

Ron Paul – Virgin Islands

Latest delegate tally:

Mitt Romney – 655
Rick Santorum – 278
Newt Gingrich – 135
Ron Paul – 51

Though Romney boasts a clear lead, he still needs a total of 1,144 delegates to secure the nomination.

Also on Tuesday, President Obama formally clinched the Democratic nomination.

The next primaries will be held on April 24 with Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Delaware.

Sources:

The Washington Post, “Mitt Romney wins Wisconsin, Maryland, D.C. primaries”

Fox News, “Romney sweeps 3 primary contests, eyes general election battle”

2012 Presidential election schedule

Profile: Newt Gingrich

Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Newt Gingrich is a former Speaker of the House and Congressman from Georgia. With a bachelor’s degree from Emory University, he got both his master’s and his doctorate at Tulane University in New Orleans. He taught History and Environmental Studies at West Georgia College for eight years.

In 1978, he was elected to Congress, where he represented Georgia in the House for twenty years. He was Speaker of the House for four years, from 1994-1998.

He served on the Defense Policy Board under President George W. Bush and taught at Air University. He also taught officers from all five services as an honorary Distinguished Visiting Scholar and Professor at the National Defense University.

In 1999, Gingrich was appointed to the United States Commission on National Security/21st Century, the Hart/Rudman Commission.

He is chairman of the Gingrich Group, a communications and consulting firm; a political analyst for Fox News; founder and general chairman of the advocacy group American Solutions; founder of the Center for Health Transformation; a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute; a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution; and a prolific writer with 18 non-fiction books and novels to his credit.

He currently lives in McLean, Virginia, with his wife Callista. They have two daughters and two grandchildren.

Sources: Washington Post, Newt.org

Super Tuesday 2012

Mid-day Report: Super Tuesday Primaries

Today, March 6, is Super Tuesday. The polls are underway but, at least in the state of Virginia, voter turnout has been on the low side.

According to The Washington Post, counties like Loudoun are not even expected to reach the projected 10 percent voter turnout, noticeably down from the 2008 presidential primary, which saw numbers closer to 32 percent. In some counties, the numbers are currently as low as 1.5 percent.

One significant factor behind the lack of enthusiasm among Virginia voters for the 2012 Republican presidential primary is the absence of any apparent suspense or competitiveness. Only two candidates, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, qualified for the Virginia ballot, and Romney is expected to win by a large margin.

The other states holding primaries or caucuses today are Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Vermont.

Ohio is one of the most-watched states on Super Tuesday, and The Washington Post reports that Santorum and Romney appear to be in a virtual tie there.

Newt Gingrich must win Georgia, his home state, in order to still be considered a genuine candidate. Though he had a head start and was polling with a double-digit lead over Romney and Santorum, few people believe that he has an real chance at winning the nomination, let alone beating President Obama. Polls in Tennessee and Oklahoma both showed Santorum with the lead over Romney.