Newt Gingrich to hold campaign rally Tuesday in Dalton

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will hold a public rally in Dalton on Tuesday.

The former House speaker who began his political career in Georgia will appear during an hourlong rally starting at 11 a.m. at the Northwest Georgia Convention Center, officials said. The event is open to the public.

The appearance is scheduled exactly a week before voters from Tennessee, Georgia and eight other states cast presidential primary ballots on what’s known as “Super Tuesday” — March 6.

“We’re calling this ‘The Super Bus Tour Before Super Tuesday,’” said Susan Meyers, a spokeswoman for Gingrich.

Gingrich’s Dalton rally will come three days after one of his fellow GOP challengers, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, speaks at a Chattanooga Tea Party event at Abba’s House, a church in Hixson.

A recent poll shows Santorum leading in Tennessee, but Georgia polls show Gingrich, Santorum and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in a dead heat.

Representatives for Gingrich had no immediate word on whether the candidate would visit Chattanooga before the primary.

After Dalton, Gingrich will hold rallies in Rome and Carrollton, a city he represented for ten terms in Congress.

On Wednesday he’s expected to visit the state Capitol in Atlanta before stops in Covington and Gainesville, Meyers said.

For complete details, see tomorrow’s Times Free Press.