ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Under pressure to help unify his party, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich pledged Tuesday to support Mitt Romney if the former Massachusetts governor wins enough convention delegates to clinch the nomination by the end of the primary season in June.
If Romney falls short, “I think you’ll then have one of the most interesting, open conventions in American history,” the former House speaker said as he campaigned for votes in next week’s Maryland primary.
Gingrich is short on funds, and his hopes for a Southern based comeback in the race were all but extinguished by rival Rick Santorum’s recent victories in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. Even so, he has insisted he plans to campaign actively into the party convention, which begins Aug. 27 in Tampa, Fla.
He signaled his change in remarks to reporters. If Romney gets the 1,144 delegates needed for the nomination by the time of the Utah primary June 26, Gingrich said, “obviously I will support him and will be delighted to do anything I can to help defeat Barack Obama.”
Later Tuesday, word emerged that Gingrich is dramatically curtailing his campaign schedule and laying off about a third of his campaign staff as he focuses on a last ditch effort to win the nomination at the convention.
Spokesman R.C. Hammond said Gingrich still hoped to deny Romney the delegates he needs to win the nomination.
Gingrich plans to spend much less time in primary states and instead personally call convention delegates to try to persuade them to back him in Tampa.
Hammond said Tuesday night that the new strategy doesn’t change Gingrich’s promise to support Romney if Romney does amass the necessary delegates before the party convenes.
Romney is the front-runner with 568 delegates, on the basis of a tally by The Associated Press. That is slightly less than half the needed 1,144 delegates, and more than four times as many delegates as Gingrich, who has 135.
Gingrich, who has encouraged donations of as little as $2.50, also has an unusual tactic for his financially troubled campaign: charging $50 for a photograph with him.
On Monday evening after an appearance in Delaware, supporters wanting a picture with the candidate were asked to fill out a form with credit card information and were directed to a website to download the images, according to news accounts.
The campaign clarified Tuesday that Gingrich would not charge supporters who handed their cameras or phones to a friend - a practice all candidates encourage to spread their images through social media.
But the campaign is offering a more formal portrait with the candidate for a $50 donation, Hammond said.
Information for this article was contributed by Brian Witte, Jack Gillum and Kasie Hunt of The Associated Press and by Trip Gabriel of The New York Times.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 03/28/2012