Rick Perry — the states’ rights champion who claimed in court that the state of Virginia did not have the constitutional right to adopt its restrictive election laws — has quietly dropped a challenge to Virginia’s rules for ballot petitions. The state of Virginia barred Perry from the state’s March 6 presidential primary ballot after the Texas governor failed to garner the required number of legitimate signatures on his nominating petitions. Perry filed suit to win a place on the ballot — a subject that became moot when the Texan pulled the plug on his unsuccessful White House effort on Jan. 19.
Ballot Access News reported that Perry asked a Virginia court to permit him to withdraw from the federal election law case known as Perry v. Judd. The specific issue challenged by Perry in that case was Virginia’s ban on circulating petitions by people who do not live in the Old Dominion.
However, the case will be continued by fellow Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich, who, like Perry, was bounced from the ballot. Gingrich intervened last month on Perry’s side in the lawsuit, Ballot Access News reported Sunday.
Source: Rick Perry abandons lawsuit against Virginia election law | Texas on the Potomac | a Chron.com blog.