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Newt Gingrich's surge continues in three swing states. New Quinnipiac University polls show the former House speaker with double digit leads over Mitt Romney in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

In Florida, where Republican primary voters will go to the polls on Jan. 31, Gingrich has 35 percent support to Romney's 22 percent. None of the other candidates breaks double digits.

In Ohio, Gingrich leads Romney, 36 percent to 18 percent. None of the other candidates finishes with more than 7 percent support.

And in Pennsylvania, Gingrich has a 14-point lead over Romney, 31 percent to 17 percent. As in Ohio and Florida, no other candidate has double-digit support.

In head-to-head matchups, Gingrich holds even larger leads over Romney. In Florida, he's ahead, 52 percent to 34 percent. In Ohio, he tops the former Massachusetts governor, 55 percent to 28 percent; and in Pennsylvania, he leads, 50 percent to 31 percent.

Among Republican primary voters, Gingrich edges Romney, 31 percent to 29 percent, when poll respondents are asked who would do the best job handling the economy. The former speaker dominates, however, on foreign policy. A majority of voters (58 percent) say he would do the best job handling foreign policy while 15 percent say the same of Romney.

These polls come as Gingrich enjoys a meteoric rise to the top of the GOP field in national surveys and in key early voting states. A series of CNN/Time polls released Wednesday showed Gingrich with commanding leads in Iowa, South Carolina and Florida. And though he trailed in New Hampshire, he pulled to within single digits of Romney, the longtime heavy favorite in the state.

Among all registered voters, Romney enjoys a slightly higher favorability rating than Gingrich in Florida, where 39 percent view him favorably and only 28 percent view him unfavorably. Thirty-four percent have a favorable view of Gingrich while 38 percent have an unfavorable view.

In Ohio, both enjoy a favorable rating of 32 percent. However, 38 percent have an unfavorable view of Gingrich compared to 28 percent for Romney.

In Pennsylvania, 34 percent have a favorable view of Romney while 30 percent say the same for Gingrich. Thirty percent have an unfavorable opinion of Romney while 44 percent have an unfavorable view of Gingrich.

When matched up against President Obama in hypothetical head-to-head general election matchups, Gingrich trails Obama by two in Florida (46-44) while Romney leads the president, 45-42. In Ohio, both Gingrich and Romney hold slim 43-42 leads over Obama. In Pennsylvania, Obama leads Gingrich, 48 percent to 40 percent, and Romney, 46 percent to 43 percent.

For these polls, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,226 registered voters in Florida, including 509 registered Republicans. The full sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. The sample of Republicans has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

In Ohio, Quinnipiac surveyed 1,437 registered voters, including 500 registered Republicans. The full sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points while the sample of Republicans has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Quinnipiac surveyed 1,453 registered voters in Pennsylvania. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. They also surveyed 578 registered Republicans. The margin of error of the Republican sample is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.