![]() |
Obama vs. Romney · Electoral College Map · Battle for Senate · Battle for House · Generic Ballot · Election Calendar · Latest 2012 Polls |
Mitt Romney, who has a commanding lead over his GOP rivals in New Hampshire and has started to surge in South Carolina, now holds a double-digit lead in Florida, according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University.
The former Massachusetts governor attracts 36 percent of the support in Florida, which will hold its primary on Jan. 31. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich garners 24 percent, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum rounds out the top three with 16 percent of the support. Texas Rep. Ron Paul receives 10 percent while Texas Gov. Rick Perry gets 5 percent. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who originally placed his national headquarters in Florida (but has since relocated it) gets just 2 percent.
However, 54 percent of primary voters say they haven't completely settled on a candidate. Three weeks until the Florida primary is a long time in an election cycle that has seen rapid rises and falls by various candidates; Santorum is the most recent one to soar upward. The results of the primaries in New Hampshire on Tuesday and in South Carolina on Jan. 21 will also shape the field heading into Florida.
So far, Romney has the highest favorability rating of the GOP candidates in the Sunshine State: 73 percent like him while 14 percent view him unfavorably. Fifty-nine percent view Santorum favorably while 8 percent view him unfavorably. But despite his success in Iowa last week (he finished in second place -- eight votes behind Romney), 33 percent of Florida voters don't know enough about him to form an opinion. As for Gingrich, 59 percent view him favorably while 29 percent have an unfavorable opinion. And Paul gets a negative 34 percent to 47 percent favorability rating.
Romney leads by double digits among moderate voters, with 41 percent of the support. He also leads among conservatives, with 35 percent support. Gingrich, who is attacking Romney as a "Massachusetts moderate" and calling himself a "Reagan Republican," attracts 28 percent of the conservative vote in Florida. Santorum gets 17 percent. Romney and Gingrich lead the field among Tea Party supporters, attracting 32 percent each. Santorum garners 19 percent of the support from this group.
Quinnipiac University surveyed 560 likely Republican primary voters from Jan. 4-8. The sampling error is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
| Sponsored Links | Related Articles
|