Gingrich to Headline Polk County Republican Dinner as Popularity Surges

Iowa Republicans want to fire some questions at former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich as they try to settle on who to support in the Jan. 3 caucuses.

With Gingrich's popularity surging, organizers with the Polk County Republican Party and the Robb Kelley Victory Club landed the GOP presidential candidate as keynote speaker for their Thursday fundraiser. They expect a packed house.

In recent weeks, Gingrich has seen his popularity rise in the polls, something of a nice surprise for event organizers.

"We secured him about four and a half weeks ago," said Darrell Kearney, Polk County GOP party finance director and events manager. "So that turned out to be a good decision. We're going to have a full house, we didn't know his popularity was going to explode."

Organizers of the event, to be held at in Johnston, are expecting a packed house to hear Gingrich speak about his 21st Century's Contract with America.

"We actually originally thought we'd do a forum of all the candidates, but with so many of them going on it seemed impossible to get the all together for a date we could approve," Kearney said. "Since we are bumped up against the and the , we decided it would be best thing to choose one candidate."

Gingrich seemed like the perfect fit for the dinner.

"I personally felt that Newt was more acceptable to everyone," Kearney said. "Even if they weren't supporting him they would like to hear him speak."

Gingrich is now one of four-front runners in Iowa for the Republican nomination for president. In a recent Huffington Post-Patch Power Outsiders survey, Gingrich's campaign was cited for poor organization in Iowa, but that hasn't slowed his climb following good showings in several debates and forums.

Gingrich received in one recent survey.

Kearney said Gingrich will have about 30 to 40 minutes to speak at Thursday night's event, followed by a question and answer session.

"We felt that we would allow whatever time the speaker needs," Kearney said. "We offer that to all of our speakers and we try to be open to everyone."

The Polk County Republicans perviously hosted events featuring Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Romney, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Minn. Rep. Michele Bachmann and businessman Herman Cain.

"We haven't been able to tie up with Rick Santorum, we couldn't find dates that work," Kearney said. "But we might still be able to do that before the year is out."

Limited seating for Thursday's event is still available, individual tickets are $65. For reservations call 280-6438.

A general reception begins at 6 p.m. in the Foxboro Conference Center. Guests can begin the food line at 6:30 p.m. and the program will be under way at 7:15 p.m.