Gingrich gets second chance at Ohio ballot

{mosads}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.