Four GOP candidates fail to make Virginia primary ballot, judge rules By Bill Mears, CNN January 13, 2012 -- Updated 2145 GMT (0545 HKT) Rick Perry was the first to challenge a residency provision in Virginia's petition requirements. NEW: Four candidates "played the game, lost, and then complained," judge rules Perry, Gingrich, Santorum and Huntsman won't be on Virginia primary ballot The four candidates waited too long to file their claims, a judge rules Romney and Paul are on the Virginia ballot (CNN) -- A federal judge on Friday ruled against four GOP presidential candidates seeking a spot on Virginia's March 6 primary ballot, saying they waited too long to file their claims. Left off the ballot are Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former U.S Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. The four candidates had challenged the state's residency requirements for those seeking to circulate ballot petitions, but Judge John Gibney ruled against the challenge. "They [the four GOP candidates] knew the rules in Virginia many months ago," the judge wrote in his ruling. In essence, they played the game, lost, and then complained that the rules were unfair. Two other candidates did qualify for the GOP primary: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Virginia holds its Republican primary on March 6, Super Tuesday. At stake in the primary are Virginia's 49 delegates. Virginia state law specifically prohibits voters from writing in candidates not on the ballot in primary elections. Huntsman and Santorum did not file petitions with the Virginia State Board of Elections that would have allowed them a place in the state's primary. Gingrich and Perry filed petitions that were later rejected by the Republican Party of Virginia for not meeting requirements. The four candidates sued the state's board of elections over laws they claimed were "unconstitutional." Virginia requires candidates to obtain 10,000 signatures from registered voters in the state, with at least 400 signatures coming from each of the commonwealth's 11 congressional districts.