Candidates join Perry's Virginia lawsuit

December 31st, 2011

04:40 PM ET

9 minutes ago

Posted by

CNN's Kevin Liptak

(CNN) - Four candidates left off the Virginia Republican primary ballot joined Rick Perry Saturday in suing the state's board of elections over laws they say are "unconstitutional."

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum joined the lawsuit, originally filed Tuesday, challenging provisions that determine who can appear on the primary ballot.

On Wednesday, Gingrich cited fraud as the reason he didn’t make it onto the ballot, laying the blame on one of their paid volunteers.

"We hired somebody who turned in false signatures. We turned in 11,100 – we needed 10,000 – 1,500 of them were by one guy who frankly committed fraud,” Gingrich said.

On Saturday, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said they were looking into the petition fraud case, but that their top priority was getting on the ballot.

All five candidates filing the lawsuit failed to qualify for the ballot.

Huntsman, Bachmann and Santorum did not file petitions with the Virginia State Board of Elections that would have allowed them a place in the state's primary. Gingrich and Perry filed petitions that were later rejected by the Republican Party of Virginia for not meeting requirements.

Virginia requires candidates to obtain 10,000 signatures from registered voters in the state, with at least 400 signatures coming from each of the commonwealth's 11 congressional districts.

In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Perry said the statutes of Virginia law that regulate access to the ballot were "among the most onerous in the nation and severely restrict who may obtain petition signatures."

In their release Saturday, Bachmann, Gingrich, Huntsman and Santorum request the board of elections add their names to the ballot, saying it will avoid "unnecessary costs and expenses to the state and the parties" that would be incurred by moving the lawsuit forward.

Immediately after his petition was rejected by the Virginia GOP, Gingrich said he would launch a write-in campaign. It was later determined that Virginia specifically prohibits write-in candidates in primary elections.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul both successfully filed petitions to appear on the Virginia ballot.

The state holds its Republican primary on Super Tuesday, March 6.

–CNN Political Producer Shawna Shepherd contributed to this report.

Santorum's closing argument on Iowa TV

December 31st, 2011

02:40 PM ET

12 minutes ago

Posted by

CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser

Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) - With three days to go until the Iowa caucuses, Rick Santorum's campaign is going up with a new TV commercial which says the former senator from Pennsylvania is the most qualified Republican presidential candidate to take on President Barack Obama.

The Santorum campaign says the ad starts running statewide in Iowa on Saturday. A top Santorum aide tells CNN the 30-second spot, which will be accompanied by radio commercials and direct mail, is the campaign's closing ad in the Hawkeye State and will run through Tuesday's caucuses, which kick off the primary and caucus calendar.

"Who has the best chance to beat Obama? Rick Santorum. A full-spectrum conservative, Rick Santorum is rock-solid on values issues. A favorite of the tea party for fighting corruption and taxpayer abuse. More foreign policy credentials than any candidate," says the commercial's narrator.

The ad concludes with the narrator saying that "Rick's "Made in the USA" jobs plan will make America an economic super power again. Rick Santorum... a trusted conservative who gives us the best chance to take back America."

Santorum, once a long shot in the race for the GOP nomination, has surged to third place in the two most recent polls of likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers, by CNN/Time/ORC and by NBC News/Marist.

The campaign says the 30-second spot will also begin running next week in New Hampshire. The Granite State holds the second contest in the race for the White House, with its January 10 primary coming one week after the Iowa caucuses.