Republican Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich holds a rally in North Carolina on the evening of primaries in five Northeastern states. North Carolina will hold the next Republican primary on May 8.
Gingrich promised supporters that he would be involved in the race "all the way to Tampa," where the Republican National Convention will be held, so that he could get some key issues into the party platform, including Medicare, Social Security, and independent American energy. He later hinted that he may not continue his campaign for the nomination, implying that he would remain a voice for these issues regardless.
He referenced the primaries only indirectly, instead using the speech to push some of his key policy ideas.
Newt Gingrich did acknowledge that he will need to consider whether to continue his campaign. "Governor Romney is going to have a very good night," Gingrich said, going on to say that if Romney becomes the nominee, then every Republican needed to stand behind him.
"Over the next few days, we're going to look, realistically, at where we're at," he said, promising to continue to campaign in North Carolina this week. "We're also going to think about how we can be most helpful to this country."
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware held primaries Tuesday. Newt Gingrich trails in the delegate count to Former Mass. Governor Mitt Romney, who had already been declared the winner in the three smaller states when Newt Gingrich started speaking, won all five contests.
Mitt Romney had 698 delegates before Tuesday's primaries, just 446 short of the 1,144 required to win the nomination. There were 204 delegates up for grabs in the five states.
Former House Speaker Gingrich has been campaigning heavily in Delaware, making the second smallest contest of the night the one to watch. The state hands out 17 delegates in a winner-take-all contest.