Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will be visiting the Bay Area later this month to headline the California Republican Party's spring convention, party officials announced Tuesday.

Gingrich, who is vying to be the Republican candidate to take on President Obama in the November election, will be in Burlingame to give the keynote speech at a Feb. 25 lunch event at the convention, which is being held at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport hotel in Burlingame.

Tom Del Beccaro, the state's Republican Party chairman, said Gingrich is "one of the most dynamic figures in GOP politics" and "brings energy and vision to the convention during a critical election year."

Del Beccaro said Gingrich may be participating in fundraising events elsewhere in the Bay Area during his visit to the region, but those events have yet to be confirmed.

He said his organization is also in talks to have other Republican presidential candidates participate in the convention, which runs from Feb. 24-26.

The current guest list for the convention includes House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, the third-highest ranking Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Darrell Issa, a congressman from Southern California.

More information about the convention can be found at www.cagop.org.

-- Bay City News

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