Gingrich Packs House in Rosslyn

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich told a crowd of more than 200 at the Key Bridge Marriott in Rosslyn that he had enough signatures to appear on his home state of Virginia's ballot at a rally Wednesday night.

The former House speaker also challenged rival Republican Mitt Romney to meet him "anytime, anywhere" in the first-in-the-nation nominating state of Iowa for a one-on-one, 90-minute debate.

"We’ll bring all of his negative ads and show them for free and he can explain them, and we’ll find out … whether he likes the heat and wants to come in the kitchen, or whether he is just another normal national politician with clever consultants and a lot of money and no willingness to stand up and tell the truth," Gingrich said.

Virginia requires 10,000 signatures to be delivered in Richmond by 5 p.m. Thursday to appear on the presidential primary ballot. Often, candidates submit well over the required amount in case any signatures are disqualified.

When asked if he had enough signatures, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said, "It's not a certainty until the state of Virginia declares him a candidate."

He added: "We have a strong campaign here in Virginia," and said the camp would have an announcement Thursday morning.

Still, the Marriott's Potomac Ballroom was packed with volunteers trying to gather last-minute signatures from everyone attending the rally.

"Every single signature counts and that’s one more towards that goal," said campaign volunteer Rachel Robinson of Alexandria. Robinson was one of two people Gingrich personally thanked at the start of his speech for her effort in collecting signatures in the region.

Fresh off the plane from a New Hampshire campaign event, Gingrich arrived nearly an hour after the rally's 7 p.m. start time. He spoke for about 15 minutes.

The event was announced earlier this week in an email blast.

Afterward, Gingrich stayed for nearly an hour talking with supporters and posing for pictures. He and his wife, Callista, met with people and signed autographs.

“I’m here to listen to the man who’s accomplished more for the Republican Party and the U.S. any other elected Republican in the last 100 years with the exception of Ronald Reagan,” said Jim Hagedorn of Arlington.

"He stayed until everyone got their handshake. A lot of candidates don’t do that. They’ll breeze in and breeze out,” said attorney and former political consultant Jonathon Moseley of Reston. “It is interesting because normally a presidential candidate would be in Iowa.”

Allen Dunn of Arlington said he heard about Wednesday's event about three hours before it started thanks to a friend's email.

“There’s a bunch of us who have watched Newt for decades and observed that he’s smarter than everyone else and he’s targeted it in the right direction, which is conservative,” Dunn said. “That’s the way I feel and that’s the reason that he can fill a room on two-hour notice."

Moseley, who was sitting nearby, said, "The fact that he was able to gather such a crowd relatively quickly is a testament to his popularity.”

He added: "At the same time, the fact that he needed to do it at all indicated that his organization is lagging behind."