A quarter of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents say they would support former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney if the 2012 Republican presidential primaries were held now, according to the latest Quinnipiac University survey released earlier today.
Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, placed second in the Quinnipiac survey with 15 percent, a full ten percentage points behind her party’s frontrunner. Radio talk show host Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, was third, earning a nine percent share in the poll. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, the battle-tested Texan who raised over a million dollars in a 24-hour online anti-Romney fundraising frenzy on Sunday, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who’s been vacationing the past two weeks, were tied in fourth place with eight percent.
Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann, who recently enlisted the aid of veteran political strategist Ed Rollins, was favored by six percent of those surveyed, while fellow Minnesotan Tim Pawlenty, whose less-than-electrifying candidacy thus far has failed to excite the party’s base, received five percent. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a favorite among some of his party’s social conservatives who embarked on his long shot quest for the party’s nomination on Monday, was the choice of four percent of the 1,946 registered voters questioned in the telephone survey. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman received 1 percent.
A full one-fifth of those surveyed are undecided. The Quinnipiac Poll, conducted May 31 through June 6, has a margin of error of 2.2 percent.
The Quinnipiac survey follows on the heels of an ABC News/Washington Post poll released yesterday showing Romney leading the entire Republican field at 21 percent, followed by Palin at 17 percent. No other GOP candidate broke double digits. In that same poll, Romney held a narrow three point margin over President Barack Obama in a hypothetical general election match-up.
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