Virgil Goode

Virginia remains one of those toss-up states that both President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney want to win. But the addition of another candidate to the commonwealth’s presidential ballot today may make Romney’s job just a little bit harder.

The Post reports that former congressman Virgil Goode qualified for the presidential ballot today as the candidate of the Constitution Party. His place on the ballot came about by way of a strange political alliance, and it is being opposed by the Virginia Republican Party:

Goode submitted more than 20,500 signatures to the elections board, far more than required. State law requires third-party candidates for president to submit 10,000 valid signatures, including at least 400 from each of Virginia’s 11 congressional districts. Goode got significant help collecting signatures from the Independent Green party, which assisted Goode because he supports the party’s top issue — more spending for passenger rail.

But the Virginia GOP filed a challenge last week arguing that too many of Goode’s signatures are invalid. Republicans in Pennsylvania knocked Goode off the ballot in that state last month.

It’s no surprise that Republicans want him off the ballot: with Goode there, his 36 years of public service in and for the Old Dominion and his conservative policy positions could well suck precious votes away from Romney.

Goode’s presidential campaign advocates for building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border to stop immigrants from coming into the country, making English the U.S.’s official language, ending the inheritance and estate taxes and instituting a national Fair tax, repealing Obama’s health care reform, keeping marriage between a man and a woman, bringing the troops home from Afghanistan, and preventing a “union” of the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson also made the ballot, as did Green Party contender Jill Stein. It’s possible that the votes Romney could lose to Goode could be somewhat nullified by those that Stein gets from Obama, of course.