Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a potential Republican contender for president in 2012, is scheduled to speak at the state GOP’s Lincoln Day dinner and fundraiser in February.

The Georgia Republican, one of the architects of the “Contract with America” that helped the GOP to take back the House in 1994 after forty years under Democratic control, has been an author and lecturer since leaving elected office.

Tickets to the Feb. 18 event are $150 per person, with higher rates for VIP treatment and preferred seating.

Karl Rove, a former adviser to President George W. Bush, was the state GOP’s Lincoln Day speaker last year.