Pentagon City will likely be buzzing with extra security tomorrow evening, because Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will be holding a fundraiser there.
The event at the Pentagon City Ritz Carlton is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. with a VIP photo reception. Following that, several roundtable meetings will take place on topics central to Romney’s campaign, including tax reform policy and global competitiveness. There will be a general reception afterward.
Virginia is one of 10 states with presidential primaries today. Only two of the Republican contenders are on the ballot here, however. Thanks in part to the state’s stringent requirements for getting on the ballot, neither Rick Santorum (a Great Falls resident) nor Newt Gingrich (a McLean resident) were able to qualify. Voters in Virginia will have to choose between Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, with no write-in option.
A local election official said all 52 of Arlington’s polling places opened around 6:00 this morning without incident. Voting will continue through 7:00 tonight. Any registered voter is eligible to vote in the Virginia primary, regardless of party affiliation.
The absentee application can be mailed or faxed — but the deadline is 5:00 p.m. today.
Those who want to vote absentee in person can still do so through this coming Saturday. Additional information on the absentee voting process, including the list of valid reasons for voting absentee, is available on the Arlington County website.
“I have one opponent: Barack Obama,” Gingrich told the enthusiastic crowd.
But with a dozen television cameras rolling and with members of the national press corps typing notes into their laptops, Gingrich focused his sharpest words on GOP rival Mitt Romney. Specifically, Gingrich bristled at the negative ads Romney and others have been running against him in Iowa.
