


Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich announces on Wednesday, May 2, 2012, at the Hilton Arlington in Arlington, Va., that he is suspending his 2012 Republican presidential campaign. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich announces May 2, 2012, at the Hilton Arlington in Arlington, Va., that he is suspending his 2012 presidential campaign. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich announces May 2, 2012, at the Hilton Arlington in Arlington, Va., that he is suspending his 2012 presidential campaign. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich announces on Wednesday, May 2, 2012, at the Hilton Arlington in Arlington, Va., that he is suspending his 2012 Republican presidential campaign. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

The podium stands alone onstage May 2, 2012, at the Hilton Arlington in Arlington, Va., following Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's announcement that he is suspending his 2012 presidential campaign. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is joined May 2, 2012, onstage at the Hilton Arlington in Arlington, Va., by his wife, Callista, and family members as he announces that he is suspending his 2012 presidential campaign. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

**FILE** Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich sits with his wife, Callista (right), and his daughter, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, in Birmingham, Ala. (Associated Press)

**FILE** Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks April 11, 2012, during a visit to the Newark Senior Center in Newark, Del. (Associated Press/The Wilmington News-Journal)

Aides confirmed reports that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, here in Cramerton, N.C., on Wednesday, will drop out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination in the next few days. Mitt Romney scored another five primary victories on Tuesday. (Associated Press)